Here’s the second in a series of alum profiles leading up to your 10th year reunion.
Below are updates from Jessica Frank, Katerina Baratta, Denny Madigan, Krista Easterly, and Rachel Klenicki.
Yes, many of you have been keeping up with each other on Facebook, but sometimes it’s nice to stop and reflect a bit on the last 10 years. We’ll take the slow path and try to feature as many of you as possible before October.
In that vein, if you want to see your friends in next month’s post, refer them by completing this quick form — it’s a great way to shine the spotlight on a good friend!
1. 10 years later, what are you up to (career, family, where you’ve lived, etc.)?
After graduating from UVM in 2007, I spent two years traveling and living in Alaska, New York City, Hawaii and Costa Rica. I eventually settled down in Stowe, VT and become a snowboard instructor. After a few years of the ski bum lifestyle I decided to go back to UVM and get my master’s degree to become a science teacher. I currently teach 7th grade in Colchester. Last summer, I became a first time homeowner and now my boyfriend and I reside in Hinesburg. We spend our Vermont summers in the garden or our on our sailboat on Lake Champlain.
2. What’s the best thing you’ve done in the last 10 years?
I’m so glad I spent time traveling after I graduated. It was wonderful to get out and see some beautiful places, but it also made me realize how much I love Vermont.
3. Who is the one person you most want to see at Reunion (classmate, professor, etc.)?
Professor Doc Donnelly!
4. Do you have a post-graduate tradition with your UVM friends? (ex. You get together at the beach each summer).
My housemates and I get together every February in Vermont to enjoy winter activities.
5. How is your UVM degree relevant to your career?
I use my foundation science knowledge from my undergraduate degree in Natural Resources every day in my classroom.
6. What were you involved with at UVM?
I was involved in the Outing Club and lived in Slade Hall. My closest friends today I met while I was an undergrad at UVM. I am thankful we have such wonderful community of friends that continue to keep in touch.
1. 10 years later, what are you up to (career, family, where you’ve lived, etc.)?
After graduating from UVM I embarked on few years of exploration and experimentation, followed by intense focus, and now I’m entering into a new phase of discovery. After college I went down to New Orleans for a year and volunteered at a middle school. Becoming a teacher was on my radar as a career option, but while I will always cherish the time I spent with the kids in New Orleans, I realized that being a school teacher was not a good fit for me.
Yoga had become the grounding force in my life amidst the chaos of post-Katrina New Orleans, so the following summer I decided to complete yoga teacher training. I immediately knew I was onto something, it just felt right, but I didn’t know how exactly I was going to proceed. I dabbled in a graduate program for art therapy, but one week into the first semester I already knew that, along with being a school teacher, art-therapy didn’t resonate with me either.
The future looked too foggy for me to know where I was going, so I took some time off from standardized education and spent a few months exploring Mexico, followed by a work-study program at the Herb Pharm in southern Oregon, where I learned about medicinal herbalism and holistic nutrition. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do in terms of my career, but just as I felt at home in yoga teacher-training, I also felt right diving into the world of medicinal herbalism.
Shortly after I left the Herb Pharm I received a free acupuncture treatment and something inside me clicked. I realized that Chinese medicine would let me incorporate all the things I love- nutrition, herbalism, movement therapy, bodywork, coaching and deep connections with my future patients.
I also fell in love with Portland -the delicious and sustainable food scene, the natural surroundings, the interesting people- so I set out to complete pre-requisites as I applied to the Chinese medicine program at the National University (then College) of Natural Medicine (NUNM).
Five years later I completed my Master’s in Science and am now a licensed acupuncturist, working at the Canyon Medical Center, a naturopathic clinic that also serves as a birthing center.
I am also happily married to my husband, Adam, who works as a nutrition professor at NUNM and runs an organic farm where he teaches students everything that goes into cultivating the most nutritious foods on earth. Last July we welcomed our scrumptious and endlessly curious baby boy Walden into the world.
Now my time is split between being a mama (most of the time), working on my online business, and working one-on-one with patients in clinic a couple times a week. I’m currently creating a podcast and online-course called Love My Body, Love My Life, where I help women stop dieting and stop feeling bad about themselves, so they can step into their power and craft the healthy, happy, and impactful lives they want.
2. What’s the best thing you’ve done in the last 10 years?
This is SUCH a hard question to answer! The most all-encompassing answer would be that the best thing I’ve done in the last 10 years is to learn how to take care of myself and follow my bliss. When I feel good I have the strength, endurance, and inner-light I need to help other people so they, too, can become the best version of themselves.
3. Who is the one person you most want to see at Reunion (classmate, professor, etc.)?
Can I name 3? I would love to see Professor Jones. He gave me the chance to be a TA for Race-Relations in the U.S. and getting to know that course material on such a deep level made me a better person in all I do.
I would also love to see Professor Lynn Bond, because the Psychology of Women course she taught was SO much more than I ever could have imagined when I signed up. She’s a really strong, sassy, and wonderful woman, and I’m forever grateful that I had her as a teacher.
And finally, I would love to give Christine Campbell a biiiiiiiig hug. She was like a mother-figure to me at UVM, making me feel seen and confident in my abilities, not just in my artistic ability but as a contributing member of society.
4. Do you have a post-graduate tradition with your UVM friends? (ex. You get together at the beach each summer).
I wish! I’m just grateful that I am still so close to my friends from UVM that I find myself texting many of them throughout the week, almost every week! We visit each other whenever we can, but thanks to technology I feel closer to them on an emotional level than I do with many people I live closer to.
5. How is your UVM degree relevant to your career?
I majored in psychology with a double minor in ALANA studies and studio art. As I mentioned before, my experience with ALANA studies (and race-relations in general) helped make me a more compassionate person.
Psychology and studio art have combined in an unexpected way for me, spawning a deep love of marketing in the online business realm. Studio art has, also surprisingly, translated into a unique understanding of the human body and what it means to be balanced. Art creation has remained my sanctuary and indulgence regardless of what else is going on in my life.
And finally, psychology has helped me become a better clinician than I might otherwise be and has given me a deeper understanding of the human condition.
6. What were you involved with at UVM?
What I have written on my resume is that I led an Alternative Spring Break trip to North Carolina where we helped build houses with Habitat for Humanity. In a similar vein, I led an orientation group where we built Habitat houses and helped in a soup kitchen. And as you know by now, I was a TA for the class Race Relations in the US.
However, my time at UVM was largely about social connection and, after growing up in the high-pressure environment that is Manhattan, it was also about learning to slow down and appreciate the beauty in life.
A lot of my time in Burlington was spent hiking, snowboarding, and cooking with my friends. I was also deeply enamored with the music scene and enjoyed official concerts as well as impromptu living-room jam sessions. While the ambitious New Yorker in me cannot be tamed, I am glad that Vermont taught me to pause and enjoy simple moments instead of always rushing from one endeavor to the next.
1. 10 years later, what are you up to (career, family, where you’ve lived, etc.)?
I’m a Financial Services Market Manager at TD Bank. I oversee the sales activities for 86 branches in Upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. I currently live in Essex Junction, VT with my wife Karen and 3 year old Mackenzie.
2. What’s the best thing you’ve done in the last 10 years?
Met my wife and started an amazing family with her. Karen is from Shelburne, VT and we met senior year while she was attending St. Mike’s.
3. Who is the one person you most want to see at Reunion (classmate, professor, etc.)?
Jordan Hershman, classmate. It’s been forever since I’ve seen him.
4. Do you have a post-graduate tradition with your UVM friends? (ex. You get together at the beach each summer).
We get together once a year for a Friendsgiving in November. We have about 12 of us every year.
5. How is your UVM degree relevant to your career?
I wouldn’t be in my current role without my UVM degree. It has helped me be prepared for so much and I’m very thankful for it.
6. What were you involved with at UVM?
Varsity Swimming, Water Polo
1. 10 years later, what are you up to (career, family, where you’ve lived, etc.)?
After graduation I received my master’s degree in interior design from the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University. For the past 9 years I have been working as an interior designer in Boston. I am currently working at Bergmeyer, an architecture firm, where I design higher education spaces at universities and colleges throughout New England.
I live just outside the city with my husband, Adam and my pit bull, Theodore Roosevelt Easterly. I haven’t strayed too far from my home in Massachusetts but, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love where we live and I love working in the city. My husband is from Kansas City so I have grown very familiar with the Midwest, a part of the country I never thought I would see.
2. What’s the best thing you’ve done in the last 10 years?
I hope this isn’t too pathetic of an answer but, rescuing my dog, Theo. It has been the absolute best experience.
I was never able to have pets growing up and I cannot believe that I made it 29 years without one. He has been through some pretty terrible experiences before he was rescued in Tennessee and he still manages to be a gentle, sweet boy. We can all learn a lesson or two from Theo.
3. Who is the one person you most want to see at Reunion (classmate, professor, etc.)?
My old BFF, Kyle Cieplicki. Remember me, Kyle??
4. Do you have a post-graduate tradition with your UVM friends? (ex. You get together at the beach each summer).
I wish I had a post-graduate tradition! I occasionally see alums that live in the Boston area, but outside of the local group, I haven’t seen anyone on a regular basis. I’m looking forward to catching up with a few roommates that I haven’t seen in 10 years.
5. How is your UVM degree relevant to your career?
I doubled majored in political science and studio art. (And much to everyone’s disappointment, I did not end up drawing political cartoons).
Although I did not put my poli sci background to use, I use my studio art degree every day in my design career.
6. What were you involved with at UVM?
I was involved in intramural sports and recreational partying. 51 Brookes Ave was pretty hopping from 2005-2007.
1. 10 years later, what are you up to (career, family, where you’ve lived, etc.)?
I can’t believe it’s been ten years! I live in Los Angeles, California where I’m the Division Manager for a Technology Recruiting Firm.
2. What’s the best thing you’ve done in the last 10 years?
I’ve done a lot of cool things the past ten years, but I guess I’m most proud of being promoted t to LA from our Boston location in 2010. The West Coast is awesome and I highly recommend more people move here. It’s 72 and Sunny every day. I can’t believe I used to walk to class in -20 degree weather.
3. Who is the one person you most want to see at Reunion (classmate, professor, etc.)?
I want to see a Rise and Shiner Sandwich from KKD!!
4. Do you have a post-graduate tradition with your UVM friends? (ex. You get together at the beach each summer).
We try to see each other at Phish shows as much as possible. Whether it’s Seattle, San Diego or NYC, I’ll always see a post UVMer at a Phish show.
5. How is your UVM degree relevant to your career?
It’s not really relevant but I did need a degree to work for my current company!
6. What were you involved with at UVM?
I was on the UVM dance team for 4 years. I was also part of the concert committee my freshman and sophomore years. I remember I decorated the dressing room for George Clinton, New Deal, Flaming Lips and Talib Kweli. That was pretty awesome. I miss UVM 🙁
If you liked these profiles and want to see some of your friends, refer a classmate or two. We’ll reach out to them and include them in the next post.
