Class Notes for 2005

Hi, all. Lots of news this time: Monica Ference (who gets top billing because she said she likes—and actually reads—the column) was recently engaged to Joe Orlando. They are planning a wedding in August 2008. Monica returned to JCU in the fall to be a graduate assistant in the English department and pursue a master’s in English. Joe is in his second year of law school at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. ... Kelly Wiltshire and Nick Dowling also just got engaged. Their wedding will be October 27, 2007, in Cleveland. Kelly just completed her first year as special events coordinator for the YWCA of Greater Cleveland. She plans fund-raising events, such as an awards luncheon for Cleveland-area executives, golf outings and conferences for women. Nick is a marketing representative at National Interstate in Richfield. ... Lauren Stockhausen was accepted into the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and has moved to Fukui City, Japan. She teaches English at Miyama Junior High School and at a school for the hearing-impaired. ... Shawn Robinson is working as a risk consultant with Protiviti. He was recently transferred from the Cleveland office to his hometown of Pittsburgh. ... Mike Costello is serving as a platoon leader for C TRP., 3-73 CAV, 82nd Airborne Division, in Fort Bragg, NC. Finally, Ali Smouse switched to working as an HR assistant at YRCI, a government contractor for the Department of Homeland Security, in Fairfax, VA. ... Sarah Bravman is starting her master’s in community counseling at JCU. She and Matt Amoroso became engaged on December 25, 2005 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and are planning a January ’08 wedding. ... Now, avid readers will know this is the part where I beg you to keep sending me your info. I’m going to start awarding prizes for the most exciting news (example: “I won the Nobel Prize in Physics”), and the most boring news (“Today I woke up at noon and watched a ‘Project Runway’ marathon”). The winning entries will be awarded a mention in this widely-read column. So send in your news! Jennifer

Thanks for the updates, everybody -- keep them coming! Here’s what we’ve got this time around ... Rachel Achesinski started working for General Electric Plastics in July 2005. ... She’s in their two-year Financial Management Program. She relocates to a new location every six months to learn different aspects of the business. She spent her first rotation in Pittsburgh and is now in Parkersburg, WV, doing manufacturing finance. She’s looking forward to her next rotation, which will bring her back to the Cleveland area. ... Lisa Collins is living in Canton and doing marketing for Breast Cancer Birds, a company that raises money for breast cancer research. ... Ali Smouse recently moved to Manassas, VA, and is working for Qdoba Mexican Grill as Community Partnership director for Northern Virginia. She arranges fund-raisers and gives donations to schools and organizations in the area. She isn’t making any promises, but I have suggested that members of the JCU class of 2005 should be entitled to free guacamole anytime they’re in the area. ... Sarah Bravman was engaged to Matias Amoroso on Christmas day 2005 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Starting in the fall, she’ll be back at JCU, working on her master’s in community counseling. ... Nick Dowling is working as an assistant manager at Sherwin-Williams in Canton. ... Kevin Conway recently started working as an account coordinator at Malone Advertising in Akron. He also plays rugby with the Eastern Suburbs Rugby Football Club. ... That’s it for now. Please keep sending me your news. (And if anybody else has a hook-up for free guacamole, be sure to let me know!) Jennifer

Hi all! Not much to report this time. Keep sending me your updates or this column is going to get pretty boring. ... J.T. Sturm is teaching pre-calculus and integrated math 1 at Medina High School. Outside of the classroom, he is the head junior varsity boys’ basketball coach. ... Michael J. Costello is a battalion adjutant at Fort Riley, KS, with the U.S. Army 2-70 AR company. ... Dave Summers was recently promoted to sales manager at Best Buy in Mentor. He is the youngest sales manager in the district, and has between 120 and 160 employees under him. ... Lauren Connolly is working as a sales representative for American Phone Centers in Cleveland. ... Andrew Guild is working in downtown Cleveland for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. ... Amanda Leonberg was recently accepted into the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, NE, where she’ll start in the fall. ... And in wedding news, Lauren Smith recently got engaged to Craig Setter. Lauren is currently in graduate school at Case Western Reserve University. They are planning an August 2007 wedding in Pittsburgh. ... Janet Kramer is volunteering full-time with the Episcopal Urban Intern Program and Americorps in Inglewood, CA. She works as an employment specialist at a non- profit called Chrysalis, where she helps homeless people find jobs and get the resources they need to become self- sufficient. ... That’s it for now -- I love hearing what everybody’s doing, so keep those updates coming! Jennifer

Class Notes 2005

	Jennifer Tolhurst jtolhurst04.jcu.edu


fall 2008	Hi everyone. As always, the class of 2005 is on the move. Biology major Frank Tulenko, also ’99, spent this past summer at the RIKEN Institute’s Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan. As a recipient of the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students’ award, Frank is studying how primitive vertebrates develop. He has joined a research team tracking how cells move and develop in the aquatic lamprey’s early stages of life -- the idea is to find out how birth defects occur in humans, and how they might be avoided. ... Matt Davenport is finishing up his third year at Manchester College, serving as hall director. This summer, he was the interim associate dean of student development and the director of residential life. He’s now about to move across the country to work at Washington State University as a resident education director, while getting his master’s in higher education administration. ... Pete and Hallie (DiVincenzo) Bernini were married on August 4, 2007. Pete is working in sales and studying for a master’s in business administration at Cleveland State University. Hallie is a first grade teacher, having recently received her master’s in education from Ursuline College. The couple lives in Lyndhurst. ... Emma (Ghannoum) Ferek recently completed her master’s in early childhood education from good old JCU. She also accepted a first-grade teaching position at Hawken School in Lyndhurst. ... I know more of you have news too, so let’s hear it! E-mail me, and in return you get the thrill of seeing your name in print! Jennifer


summer 2008	Hi, everyone. Hope you’re enjoying the nice weather. Just don’t forget to take a break from basking in the Cleveland sun to write to your lonely class columnist. Got a few updates from ’05ers around the country: Natalie Scala is currently studying industrial engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She just received her master’s degree in December 2007 and is now continuing for a Ph.D. ... Andy Guild, a fellow former English major, is now a full-time graduate student in the MBA program at JCU, as well as a graduate assistant for the Boler School of Business. He’s also working as a marketing intern at thunder::tech, a Cleveland-based marketing firm and lives in Cleveland Heights. ... Gladymar Guzmán was recently promoted to national account executive for Univision Network in Miami, FL. With this new role she is selling more than 69 Spanish stations in the U.S. She’s looking to receive her master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Florida International University in December 2008. ... How about you all out there -- let me know about all the exciting things you’re doing! Jennifer


spring 2008	Hey everyone -- not much to report this time. Chemistry major Adam Anderson recently started as a technical service representative with Brunswick-based Columbia Chemical, a supplier of zinc plating additives. ... In wedding news, Julie Eid got married on July 14, 2007, and she didn’t even have to change her last name! Her husband is Joseph Eid -- the two share a very common Lebanese last name, she tells me. They just bought a home in North Royalton. Julie is working at Western Reserve Vision Care as an ophthalmic assistant, and Joseph is an engineer at GE. Best wishes to both of them! ... Now for the rest of you, what are you up to? Send me your news! Jennifer


fall 2007	Hey ’05ers -- I’ll start this column off with an update from the other side of the world. Our class has a few men in uniform in Iraq, and I was glad to hear from Lt. Jim Fink with some news from them. He’s over there with Lt. Mike Costello and Lt. Brendan Wentz, all with the 1BCT of the 82nd ABN. Lt. Dan Corall is now home after his tour in Iraq with the 3BCT of the 82nd ABN. I’m sure we all wish them the best and look forward to their safe return. ... A little bit closer to home, Jess Hackman and Tim Weidel recently got engaged. They’re planning a fall wedding next year in Chicago. Jess has finished her master’s in Community Counseling at Loyola University Chicago. She’s now working at Thresholds, doing homeless outreach. Tim is working on his Ph.D. in philosophy. ... Joshua Czerwinski is a third-year medical student at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA. He’s interested in family practice, pediatric oncology and autism. He also recently found out that his research in the field of oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in the summer of 2004 was published in the Journal of Immunotherapy. (So take note everybody: if you only get one magazine subscription this year, besides the one you’re reading now of course, make it the Journal of Immunotherapy.) ... Michael Adam and Michelle Lynn Franz Canfield were married on August 11 at Immaculate Conception Church in Madison. Michael is currently working as a manager at The Fresh Market in Shaker Heights, and Michelle is a math teacher at Riverside High School in Painesville Township. ... Joseph Cooney is working as an account executive at Asurint here in Cleveland. ... And last but not least, Ken Fortuna Jr., has been named new program director for Hiram House Camp in Moreland Hills. He’ll be responsible for overseeing the program and counseling staff, scheduling, recruiting new summer camp personnel, programming, and working with area families, schools and educators, as well as retreat groups who visit Hiram House Camp. Sounds like he’s got his work cut out for him. ... How about the rest of you? Keep me updated! Jennifer


summer 2007	Hi everyone. I got to see a few people from our class at Lauren Smith’s wedding on July 28. She married Craig Setter, and sadly for their friends in Cleveland, they’ve decided to live in Lauren’s hometown of Pittsburgh. Traitors. Anyway, a few updates for you this time -- Kathleen Cooke is living in Fort Myers and working at Chico’s FAS as an E-Marketing consultant. ... Meredith Block is working on her master’s in education at JCU, and is set to graduate in 2008. ... Jessica Hackman is also getting her master’s in education, at Loyola University Chicago. ... Katie Lentz has decided to abandon her friends in Cleveland and move to Chicago too. She’ll be transferring to the Chicago office of Ernst & Young, and I hear she welcomes visitors to her fabulous new apartment in the city. ... Taryn Wadsworth-Tomaszewski married Max on August 26, 2006 and this past March they moved to Chicago too (I’m starting to see a pattern here). For any class of ’05ers still in Cleveland, write and tell me what you’ve been up to. Can’t wait to hear! Jennifer


spring 2007	Hi, everyone. I’m writing this column in the week after the shootings at Virginia Tech, and I’m sure that tragedy is on all of our minds right now. Only two years out of school ourselves, we can all sympathize with what those students are dealing with, even though none of us can really comprehend it. We’ll keep those affected in our thoughts and prayers. Not much to report this time -- you must all be too busy enjoying the beginning of summer to write to your bored, lonely class columnist. ... Janet Kramer started in April in the human resources department of Yahoo Inc. She’s working in Santa Monica, CA, a city that will probably never see a “white Easter,” and I for one am jealous. ... Erin Wall fled to California too, and is working as a business and legal coordinator at GRB Entertainment Inc., in Sherman Oaks. ... Alicia Sadonick is closer to home, teaching at Citizens’ Academy and living in Fairview Park. ... Michael Johnston is working as a field representative for Capital Planners, Inc. in Beachwood. ... David Borowske is working at Borowske Builders in North Royalton. ... Robyn (Rodock) Abens is living in Galloway, OH, with her husband Todd and is doing membership services work for Kappa Kappa Gamma. ... Elisa Corrao is a vendor manager for First American Title Insurance Co. in Cleveland. ... Anne Talabisco traveled East to work as a media buyer for Mentzer Media Services Inc. in Maryland. ... Those still in school include Matthew Hunt, class of 2008 at Case Western Reserve School of Law, and Denise White, who will graduate from medical school in 2009. ... Keep the news coming, people! Jennifer

winter 2007	Thanks, everyone, for responding to my plea for news -- I’ve got a ton this time. Jenna Zone and Gary Tucci ’02 were married this October. Jenna is working as the communications associate for the American Red Cross, Greater Cleveland chapter. ... Arianne Anderson got engaged to Jamison Hendricks in July while visiting her family in Colorado. They will be married in October 2007. Arianne is also enjoying her new position as managing editor with Babcox Publishing for Counterman magazine. ... Anne Talabisco now lives in Baltimore, MD. She moved there in March, after leaving Malone Advertising in Akron. She works as a TV buyer for Mentzer Media Services, a media buying company that places broadcast advertising for political, issue/advocacy, and independent expenditure media campaigns. In the recent elections she aided in the buying for various U.S. Senate, governor, and House of Representatives candidates. ... Matt Orlousky is working for North Central Mental Health Services in Columbus. ... Julie Kiser Lerner is an assistant manager for Sherwin-Williams and was married to Jeff Lerner ’03 this August. Jeff is working at MasterBolt, a family business. They just bought their first home in North Ridgeville, where they live with their two dogs. ... Erica Gilson is a quality control chemist at Anatrace Inc./USB Corporation. ... Kristen Robinson is a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, working on a doctorate in clinical psychology. She’s currently doing research on family adjustment to childhood cancer. ... Rosena Jackson is working as a check processor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. ... Kyle Hazen and Michelle Scabilloni are getting married on June 1 in Pittsburgh. ... Finally, an update of my own: I just started a new job, as an assistant editor at PR Newswire, working downtown. I’ll be editing business press releases - it’s all very glamorous. Hopefully this will be my last job switch for awhile. Thanks for all of the updates -- keep them coming! Jennifer

fall 2006	Hi, all. Lots of news this time: Monica Ference (who gets top billing because she said she likes—and actually reads—the column) was recently engaged to Joe Orlando. They are planning a wedding in August 2008. Monica returned to JCU in the fall to be a graduate assistant in the English department and pursue a master’s in English. Joe is in his second year of law school at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. ... Kelly Wiltshire and Nick Dowling also just got engaged. Their wedding will be October 27, 2007, in Cleveland. Kelly just completed her first year as special events coordinator for the YWCA of Greater Cleveland. She plans fund-raising events, such as an awards luncheon for Cleveland-area executives, golf outings and conferences for women. Nick is a marketing representative at National Interstate in Richfield. ... Lauren Stockhausen was accepted into the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and has moved to Fukui City, Japan. She teaches English at Miyama Junior High School and at a school for the hearing-impaired. ... Shawn Robinson is working as a risk consultant with Protiviti. He was recently transferred from the Cleveland office to his hometown of Pittsburgh. ... Mike Costello is serving as a platoon leader for C TRP., 3-73 CAV, 82nd Airborne Division, in Fort Bragg, NC. Finally, Ali Smouse switched to working as an HR assistant at YRCI, a government contractor for the Department of Homeland Security, in Fairfax, VA. ... Sarah Bravman is starting her master’s in community counseling at JCU. She and Matt Amoroso became engaged on December 25, 2005 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and are planning a January ’08 wedding. ... Now, avid readers will know this is the part where I beg you to keep sending me your info. I’m going to start awarding prizes for the most exciting news (example: “I won the Nobel Prize in Physics”), and the most boring news (“Today I woke up at noon and watched a ‘Project Runway’ marathon”). The winning entries will be awarded a mention in this widely-read column. So send in your news! Jennifer

summer 2006	Thanks for the updates, everybody -- keep them coming! Here’s what we’ve got this time around ... Rachel Achesinski started working for General Electric Plastics in July 2005. ... She’s in their two-year Financial Management Program. She relocates to a new location every six months to learn different aspects of the business. She spent her first rotation in Pittsburgh and is now in Parkersburg, WV, doing manufacturing finance. She’s looking forward to her next rotation, which will bring her back to the Cleveland area. ... Lisa Collins is living in Canton and doing marketing for Breast Cancer Birds, a company that raises money for breast cancer research. ... Ali Smouse recently moved to Manassas, VA, and is working for Qdoba Mexican Grill as Community Partnership director for Northern Virginia. She arranges fund-raisers and gives donations to schools and organizations in the area. She isn’t making any promises, but I have suggested that members of the JCU class of 2005 should be entitled to free guacamole anytime they’re in the area. ... Sarah Bravman was engaged to Matias Amoroso on Christmas day 2005 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Starting in the fall, she’ll be back at JCU, working on her master’s in community counseling. ... Nick Dowling is working as an assistant manager at Sherwin-Williams in Canton. ... Kevin Conway recently started working as an account coordinator at Malone Advertising in Akron. He also plays rugby with the Eastern Suburbs Rugby Football Club. ... That’s it for now. Please keep sending me your news. (And if anybody else has a hook-up for free guacamole, be sure to let me know!) Jennifer

spring 2006	Hi all! Not much to report this time. Keep sending me your updates or this column is going to get pretty boring. ... J.T. Sturm is teaching pre-calculus and integrated math 1 at Medina High School. Outside of the classroom, he is the head junior varsity boys’ basketball coach. ... Michael J. Costello is a battalion adjutant at Fort Riley, KS, with the U.S. Army 2-70 AR company. ... Dave Summers was recently promoted to sales manager at Best Buy in Mentor. He is the youngest sales manager in the district, and has between 120 and 160 employees under him. ... Lauren Connolly is working as a sales representative for American Phone Centers in Cleveland. ... Andrew Guild is working in downtown Cleveland for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. ... Amanda Leonberg was recently accepted into the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, NE, where she’ll start in the fall. ... And in wedding news, Lauren Smith recently got engaged to Craig Setter. Lauren is currently in graduate school at Case Western Reserve University. They are planning an August 2007 wedding in Pittsburgh. ... Janet Kramer is volunteering full-time with the Episcopal Urban Intern Program and Americorps in Inglewood, CA. She works as an employment specialist at a non- profit called Chrysalis, where she helps homeless people find jobs and get the resources they need to become self- sufficient. ... That’s it for now -- I love hearing what everybody’s doing, so keep those updates coming! Jennifer

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Class Notes 2005