{"id":2852,"date":"2018-03-23T08:18:53","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T12:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/?p=2852"},"modified":"2018-04-05T16:14:45","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T20:14:45","slug":"check-in-with-your-classmates-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/2018\/03\/23\/check-in-with-your-classmates-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Check in with your classmates, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week on Afterword<\/em>, we are checking in with a few of your fellow classmates to see what they’ve been up to since graduation.<\/p>\n

We connected with five alums; Teresa Dotson, Sarang Murthy, Abby Stone, Renee Cruise and Drew Cooper. See what they had to say about their post grad year!<\/p>\n

We are always looking to hear from more of you, so click the button at the bottom of this post to refer a friend (or yourself)!<\/p>\n

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What are you up to in your first year out of UVM?<\/strong><\/p>\n

After graduating from UVM I had planned to take a gap year before venturing on my next academic pursuit. I was lucky enough to spend the summer working on Martha’s Vineyard and then once summer came to a close, I moved back to my hometown of Pittsford NY, where I began work as a high school rowing coach. Fall season rowing ended around early November so I was able to enjoy the fall\/winter holiday season at home with my parents and younger sister. Fast forward to just after New Years, 2018 has been an amazing year so far. While I was on Martha’s Vineyard in the summer, a high school friend and I began planning a month and a half long trip, backpacking through South East Asia. That adventure began mid-January, starting in Hanoi, Vietnam, continuing through the countries of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar. It was the trip of a lifetime with so many incredible memories. I returned to New York February 27th where I got to spend 10 days at home before venturing out to Idaho and Utah to visit friends and explore some of the west coast.<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to in the next year?<\/strong> What do you think will be your biggest challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So far my year has been fantastic, but I am very much looking forward to beginning an Accelerated Bachelors in Nursing (ABSN) program, most likely at Drexel University in Philadelphia! It will definitely be a challenge, as it’s a full bachelor\u2019s degree condensed into about 12 months of intense coursework; nonetheless, I am very excited for this new challenge!<\/p>\n

What are you most proud of since you graduated?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since graduating, I’ve been most proud of saying “yes” more. After leaving UVM, and having loved my experiences there, I wanted the excitement and amazing memories to continue; and they most definitely have. Saying “yes” more, has allowed me to meet new people, see incredible sights, and make the memories of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

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What are you up to in your first year out of UVM?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I moved down to New York City where I work at a public policy think-tank as a Technical Research Assistant. Living in Brooklyn and working in Manhattan is an adventure, everyday!<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to in the next year?<\/strong> What do you think will be your biggest challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of my biggest challenges in the next year is applying to graduate school but also something that I am looking forward to. I have to make myself stand out among the increasingly competitive pool of applicants.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are you most proud of since you graduated?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The thing I am most proud about is mastering the NYC subway system! I am originally from\u00a0Dallas, Texas so the big city was an adjustment for me. It’s incredibly overwhelming the first few weeks but then it becomes second nature.<\/p>\n

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What are you up to in your first year out of UVM?<\/strong><\/p>\n

After graduation, I took a part-time job as a graphic designer at Alchemy & Science on\u00a0Pine Street in Burlington. When summer ended, I found a new full-time job at Okemo Mountain Resort, where I am currently the Marketing Coordinator and occasional Snow Reporter!<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to in the next year?<\/strong> What do you think will be your biggest challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking forward to moving to a bigger city, like Boston or Denver, but the biggest challenge for me will be that I won\u2019t live next to a ski resort anymore.<\/p>\n

What are you most proud of since you graduated?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adopting my adorable dog, Maple, from All Breed Rescue in Williston and training her to enjoy being little spoon. (Seen in picture above)<\/p>\n

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What are you up to in your first year out of UVM?<\/strong><\/p>\n

After graduating, I spent the summer living and interning in Boston. I went to quite a few Red Sox games and enjoyed weekends at the beach. Currently, I am in the Masters of Accountancy Program at UVM\u2019s Grossman School of Business. I\u2019ve been enjoying another year in Burlington and another season of skiing! I\u2019ll graduate with my Masters this coming May.<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to in the next year?<\/strong> What do you think will be your biggest challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m really looking forward to starting my career in accounting as an Auditor for RSM. I\u2019m also excited to move to Boston this Fall. \u00a0I think my biggest challenge will be studying for my CPA exams which I hope to complete this summer, before I begin work in the fall.<\/p>\n

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What are you up to in your first year out of UVM?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I spent the first few months after graduation packing my belongings in preparation to move to Europe. While I\u2019ve lived in Vermont for the past 15 years with my mother, my father has lived in England for the past 10 years and offered to help me prepare for starting grad school in Germany. I was lucky enough to be accepted into a two-year Master\u2019s program for Medical Neuroscience at the Humboldt University of Berlin. The program is run through their medical school, Charit\u00e9 Universit\u00e4tsmedizin, which is analogous to UVM\u2019s Robert Larner College of Medicine. The summer and fall were relatively difficult; saying goodbye to my friends and home state, moving to two different countries, and dealing with endless logistics and bureaucracy. I don\u2019t even speak German! But despite the challenges, it\u2019s been an incredibly fruitful experience thus far.<\/p>\n

Berlin is an absolutely crazy city, more international than it is German. I\u2019ve made friends with people from Mexico, Ethiopia, Russia, Greece, Pakistan, Spain; the list goes on. I\u2019ve been studying like crazy \u2014 semester grades are based on single, comprehensive exams covering everything from neurophysiology to computational statistics to bioethics \u2014 but I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t mention the nightlife. Clubs are open well into the morning and there are next-to-no open container laws. Work-Life balance is at an all-time high.<\/p>\n

Most recently, I finished interning in an ophthalmology lab as my first of four lab rotations. My research concerns thermo-mechanically activated transmembrane receptors called TRP channels and protein fragments of cellular immune systems, specifically within human corneal keratocytes. I\u2019m still (clearly) working on a summary for my research paper, but I\u2019m essentially investigating if immune responses can be triggered through temperature activation of the cornea. What I\u2019m happiest about are the images I\u2019ve captured using the microscopes in the lab \u2014 the cells light up like a Christmas tree!<\/p>\n

But even better than that, I was able to have my best friend Jaden (Class of \u201918!) visit me. He and his family have accepted me as their own for as long as I\u2019ve known them, so to share my life here with him was nothing short of amazing. He\u2019s the other guy in the above photo.<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to in the next year?<\/strong> What do you think will be your biggest challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My biggest challenge will most likely be the one I\u2019m still dealing with: Germany. I won\u2019t preach too much, but given everything going on in the USA, people have a tendency to romanticize moving to another country, especially European countries. Living here is not easy. Most important documents are co-dependent; to get a German bank account you need a visa, to get a visa you need health insurance, to get health insurance you need a German bank account\u2026 you get the idea. To even have a chance at surviving here, somebody within the system has to take pity on you, the unaware foreigner. I have been the American Idiot many times and I will probably continue to be, but it does build character. I\u2019m quoting myself here from an old piece I wrote in the Cynic, but there are things I do today that would\u2019ve made me curl into the fetal position a year ago. I\u2019m hoping I can still say that next year.<\/p>\n

What are you most proud of since you graduated?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fact that I\u2019m in Berlin! Sometimes I still can\u2019t believe I\u2019m here! The application process was 6 months alone, my grades were average at best and I don\u2019t speak the native language; what chance did I have? But lo and behold I\u2019m here, and I\u2019m actually doing well. I spent so many days last year assuming the worst in the world and myself, that I\u2019d be better off taking the safe route staying at UVM and continuing my education there. And this is not a dig at UVM, because it\u2019s actually my favorite part of my home state, but I knew I had to take a chance and do something that scared me to death. Those are the only experiences that show you who you really are as a person, and help you change into the person you want to be.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week on Afterword, we are checking in with a few of your fellow classmates to see what they’ve been up to since graduation. We connected with five alums; Teresa Dotson, Sarang Murthy, Abby Stone, Renee Cruise and Drew Cooper. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2739,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[40450],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6o9cB-K0","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2739"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2852"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2875,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852\/revisions\/2875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}