2014 – Fall ’20 Class Letter
MARA JENSEN POULLETTE ’14
(920) 946-8498 / [email protected]
TIM HOLME ’14
(608) 333-9526 / [email protected]
Hi friends,
Finding words to address these past few months feels impossible at this point, so this will be a short little letter. I think it’s fair to say that everyone experienced various levels of loss and grief as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and unfortunately, it seems to be far from over. However, as always, reading the life updates from all of our classmates fills me with hope and happiness and is a reminder that good things are still happening despite the chaos and uncertainty we find ourselves living in.
News notes:
BRITTANY LAHAIE BARTLETT ’14 of Campbellsport, Wisconsin, and her husband are expecting their first child in January 2021.
JACOB BIRENBAUM ’14 writes, “On June 23, Alexia and I had our first baby, Lily Elaine. Mom did an awesome job and Lily is the center of our world.”
SAMANTHA ANGELL EASTBERG ’14 graduated with her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln in August. She and her husband are moving to Marshfield, Wisconsin where she will be starting a postdoctoral fellowship at the Marshfield Clinic.
ANNA M. GALLE ’14 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduated from Marquette University with an MSN in December 2019 and will be working as an RN in the Nurse Residency program at UW-Health in Madison.
TIM HOLME ’14 is working as a senior land restoration tech at Good Oak Ecological. He and KATIE WILLIAMS ’13 moved to Portage, Wisconsin last summer.
DAVE JEWETT ’14 of Arlington, Virginia, is an Associate Account Executive at the Kellen Company in Washington D.C.
ANDY KRUEGER ’14 and KARISA SIMONSEN KRUEGER ’15 of Redgranite, Wisconsin, had a baby boy, Decker Andrew Krueger, on December 11. 2019.
DONALD W. MALCHOW ’14 of Madison, Wisconsin, writes, “I will be graduating from the University of Wisconsin law school in May 2020 and going to work at Sigma Janssen law firm in Appleton, Wisconsin, representing injured people in worker’s compensation, social security disability, and personal injury cases.”
ALI NEMECEK ’14 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin writes, “This summer I spent my time attempting to master tax law and working remotely at the Blood Center of Wisconsin under their General Counsel. I am putting the final touches on my publication from my Master’s program, entitled ‘Populism, Popular Sovereignty, and Periphery’ (be on the lookout next year!). I have one year of law school left and in between everything else, I serve as the Editor-in-Chief for one of Marquette’s Law Reviews.”
CASSIE BILOTTO PASBRIG ’14 of Madison, Wisconsin writes, “We have finally taken up permanent residence in Madison. I have been working as a Performance Operations Analyst with Conifer Health Solutions for the last two years. Ryan and I will be celebrating our four-year wedding anniversary and our daughter’s 2nd birthday this year!”
MARA JENSEN POULLETTE ’14 and husband, SAM POULLETTE ’13 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin both continue to work at Lakeland University. Mara was promoted to Director of Cooperative Education in August and continues to teach courses (now virtually) on Professional Etiquette to primarily first and second-year students in addition to her full-time administrative position. Sam was promoted to the Vice President of Enrollment Management as of December 2019. They continue to devote much of their spare time to their two-year-old rescue dog, Arnie. However, Arnie will soon be getting slightly less attention as Sam and Mara are expecting their first child (a boy!) in September! Arnie is slowly adjusting to the idea of being a big brother.
XIA XIONG ’14 of Madison, Wisconsin, was promoted this past January from Claims and Data Entry to Provider Relations Assistant at The Alliance in Fitchburg. He is also currently training for the Oshkosh Half Marathon next April, which will be his second half marathon.
LIZ WALSH ’14 graduated with her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in December 2019. She is now working as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Beaverlodge Research Farm (which is part of Agriculture and AgriFood Canada). She moved in February to northern Alberta, Canada so she could continue researching aspects of honey bee health.
Keep pushing forward, Red Hawks, and be well,
Sincerely,
Mara
Tim