2016 – Fall ’19 Class Letter
Sara Driebel
Elizabeth Konieczny Yamat
Zachary Peterson
Hello, Class of 2016! For me, welcoming fall always brings with it memories of my time in Ripon, especially those first few weeks on campus unpacking in a new dorm room, starting new classes, and reconnecting with friends, classmates, professors and other beloved campus staff.
As the years since our graduation from Ripon accumulate, the anticipation of a new school year and those closely held memories do not seem to fade. These letters keep those memories and shared experiences close to our hearts and keep us connected as a class.
Of course, it was easier to stay connected and in touch with each other when we spent most of the year on campus together, but these letters are vital in our continuation of those relationships and bond as a Class of 2016!
As my fellow Class Agent, Sara, so poignantly stated in our spring letter, we love hearing from and reconnecting with each of you! What you are doing is important, and we want to hear about it. We don’t expect for you to have a major change in your life every time we reach out to you. Those things are always wonderful to hear about, but we didn’t have a major life event happening every day we spent together on campus, and that is part of what made it so special! It’s those little, everyday things we shared with each other that will keep us connected in our many different places. Those are the things we want you to share with us, sprinkled with those major life changes and events when they happen to you.
We hope you will continue to share these things with us and your fellow 2016 classmates in the many letters we will share with each other in years to come.
Thank you for all you do to make the Class of 2016 the amazing group of individuals it is! Enjoy this change in the seasons, and I hope it brings to you the same fond memories of Ripon College that it brings to me.
Sincerely,
ELIZABETH KONIECZNY YAMAT ’16
SARA DRIEBEL ’16
ZACH PETERSON ’16
RAE BRIXIUS-FAHNRICH ’16 is spending the summer soaking up ALL the sun while in Arizona for her final stretch of officer school. In September she will (finally!) get to move back to Arlington, Virginia, with Nick and will be stationed at Fort Belvoir.
CAMERON CASS ’16 and his wife, Stacey, brought into the world their first-born baby girl in June.
SARA DRIEBEL ’16 is excited to spend her first summer as a homeowner! She is living with two lizards, two fish tanks, a JENNIFER NIGGEMEIER ’16, and hopefully a dog soon. Sara recently discovered how fun plants are and is now actively looking to turn her new home into a jungle.
MICHAEL GABLEMAN ’16 of Greendale, Wisconsin, is a Ph.D. student at Purdue University, studying computer engineering in the school’s robotics vision lab. His research is in the field of computer vision and focuses specifically on analyzing images taken from cameras. After graduating, he will work for the Air Force research lab at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
EMILY GARY ’16 got engaged in March and has been enjoying both being engaged and starting to plan her wedding! She plans on spending the summer enjoying the weather and playing some sand volleyball.
LOGAN JENSEN ’16 is a personal trainer in Menasha and loves it!
JEN KELLER ’16: “Living my best life as a low-level bureaucrat and busybody in Mequon, Wisconsin! Aside from my growing affinity for working in local government, I’ve also been elected as the president of the board of directors for the UW-Milwaukee Master’s in Public Administration program, a challenge I am thrilled to take on. P.S. If Ripon College has a surplus of free student planners laying around for 2019-2020, consider me interested.”
ALYSSA KENNEDY ’16 has started her fourth (and last) year of medical school! She is still at BroMenn Hospital in Bloomington, Illinois, doing her clinical rotations. She is taking her second round of board exams in June.
JOHN MERWIN ’16 was in Mozambique with the U.S. Army but is back at Fort Drum, New York, now with his wife REBECCA MCLAIN ’16.
JORDAN POLK ’16 still is working for CSC in Indianapolis. He recently was promoted to head event manager and is the youngest person to hold that position in the company.
ELIZABETH PETERS ’16 accepted a part-time third-3rd grade teaching position at St. Edward School in Mackville for the 2018-2019 school year. She also teaches adaptive aquatics at Neenah High School and is loving both teaching positions! She is looking for a full-time teaching position for the 2019-2020 school year. Lizzie will be teaching summer school again this year and is anticipating finding out the subject that she will teach. She stays busy by lifeguarding a few nights a week and teaching swim lessons as well. Lizzie hopes to have more time to teach private swim lessons for students of any age, which she has started herself.
ZACHARY PETERSON ’16 graduated with his master of arts in English: writing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He moved from the Midwest to Greenville, North Carolina, to pursue his Ph.D. in Rhetoric at East Carolina University and currently is learning the ropes of being a first-year college instructor teaching foundational writing.
RACHEL ROKUSEK ’16 has such an exciting update — she and her boyfriend recently adopted the most dog-like cat possible named Larry.
KAY SENGLAUB ’16 traveled to Iceland for a week in February for her honeymoon. She and her husband drove around the island, tasted the cuisine, and were awed by the glaciers, waterfalls, and overall gorgeous scenes that encompass the nation. They adopted their first dog, whom they have lovingly nicknamed Bran, from his racing name Firebrand. He is the most precious 45 mph couch potato Kay could have asked for — – she and Kyle adore him! Kay is continuing to keep up with the Milwaukee Irish Dance Company and they are gearing up for another Irish Fest. Overall, Kay is looking forward to all the hustle and bustle of summer and exploring new places with her little family.
FRANK STELTER-HOGH ’16 and HANNAH METZ ’17 are engaged and have set the wedding date for June 13, 2020.
KATLYN TROISI ’16 was trained in dialectical behavior therapy this year. She also visited the old state hospital where Shutter Island was filmed, and, she has plans to go to Canada for Labor Day weekend.
KATIE WARCZAK ’16 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is attending Pennsylvania State University, working toward a Ph.D. in English literature.
ANDREW WOOD ’16 and ELEANORE MUELLER ’18 are engaged.
ELIZABETH KONIECZNY YAMAT ’16 and her husband, Brady, are expecting their first child in November. They have been enjoying owning their first home and getting to know the neighborhood and are having fun getting the nursery ready for their new arrival! Their two dogs, beagle, Charlie, and lab mix, Bear, are excited to become big brothers.