Magazine - summer 03 - St. John's College

44
{Alumni Notes}
Happy in Alaska
MELISSA
(FECHT)
HOUGLAND
(SFGI06)
moved to
Fairbanks,
Alaska, in 2007 with her
husband, Jarrett, to take the
associate director position with
the Fairbanks Arts Association.
“Seven months later, on
November 15, 2007, we were
blessed with a beautiful baby
boy, Blaise Anthony Hougland.
We are all happy here in Alaska, loving both the 24-hour
summer sun and the -40 degree winters!” x
country of Belarus. I’ve also been
blessed with visits to the Ukraine,
Lithuania, Russia, Denmark,
Hungary, Egypt, and South Korea.
My time has been focused on
studying Russian, helping
university students wrestle with
important questions in their search
for God and truth, and loving
orphans and foster children.
I’ve been reading a wide range of
Russian literature and after four
years have found myself immersed
in The Brothers K once again. My
next destination is Kentucky, where
I will be eagerly awaiting the arrival
of my future niece from Ethiopia!
I’d be glad to hear from Johnnies.
I can be reached at
kristimeador@gmail.com.”
2005
SAMANTHA BUKER (A) writes
from Baltimore, Md: “I’ve recently
taken the mantle of associate editor
and managing editor of five
financial publications for a fabulous
outfit called Agora Financial. In my
spare hours, I’m writing a new
novel—delightfully absent of
murderers, devils, and afterlife
sequences. Think the morally
immoral French novels of Balzac
and Zola meeting the vivid lyricism
of Gatsby in the form of a hardboiled
hero of contemporary Wall
Street. Yes, as with Zola, there’s a
courtesan. But unlike Nana, she’s
no fool. Nor are the father whose
mistress she is or his son (who is in
love with her). At bottom, it’s a
critique of the modern American
financial system. And, unlike most
who post to these pages. . .I’ll not
tell you of nuptials or newborns.
I subscribe to Gustave Flaubert’s
style of living: Stay out of the thick
of Paris, and when your lover
barges into your study uninvited:
throw him out! But true, close
friends should plan to visit often:
sam.buker@gmail.com.”
HEATHER COOK (SF) earned her
private pilot license in September
2007, and is enjoying flying around
northern New Mexico in her
Cessna 182. She also wrote and
published her first book, the
Aviation Scholarship Directory
2008, in October 2007, which is
helping flight students, pilots, and
other aviation professionals to find
and win aviation scholarships.
Heather is still living in Santa Fe.
PAUL AND ANITA FAIRBANKS
(SF) are delighted to announce the
birth of their daughter, Charlotte
Eden, on May 20, 2008: “She has
brought us so much happiness,”
Anita writes. “We are living in
Columbus, Ohio, where Paul is
studying business in preparation
for dental school. I am simply
enjoying motherhood; my current
ambitions are to sing lullabyes and
read great books aloud.”
GWEN GURLEY (A) writes:
“I thought I would send an update
letting the school know that I am
receiving my master’s degree in
Italian Studies with a focus on
translation and linguistics from
Middlebury College this August.
I have been in Florence, Italy, for
the past year working on my degree
and will be home in July. From
there I’m moving out to the West
Coast, hopefully to Portland, Ore.”
DWIGHT KNOLL (A) has become a
partner at Music Works
Publications (musicworkspublications.com.)
“Also the podcast I
am working on at FAQautism.com
is really starting to take off,” he
writes. “Finally, I’m going to Delft,
Holland, this July to participate in a
servant evangelism event.”
MIRANDA MERKLEIN (Foster)
(SFGI) is a PhD candidate in
English / Creative Writing at the
University of Southern Mississippi.
Her poetry and fiction have
appeared in many literary journals
and magazines, including The
Columbia Review, South Carolina
Review, Permafrost, and others.
She is currently completing her
first book of poetry.
JOSHUA SUICH (A) was a youth
pastor in Florida for a year, then
spent a little over a year teaching
English in the public school system
of Daigo, Ibaraki, Japan. “Daigo is
the city, Ibaraki is the prefecture,
which is a few hours north of
Tokyo. I climbed Mt. Fuji and saw
the sites and had a great time.
I kept a travel blog of it:
www.jsuich.blogspot.com. Right
now I am back in my home town of
Augusta, Ga., working as the head
swim coach of the Augusta Country
Club and will be going to Gordon-
Conwell Theological Seminary in
Charlotte, N.C., in the fall.”
2006
ERIN CALLAHAN (A) and MARK
INGHAM (A05) married on April
27, 2008. This August the Inghams
move to Santa Fe to do the Eastern
Classics program. Erin writes:
“I am a certified yoga instructor
registered with Yoga Alliance and
have my own yoga business, Yoga
Edge, teaching privately at studios
and at universities. My Web site is
www.yoga-edge.com.”
JONATHAN COPPADGE (A) is
finishing up his year as a St. John’s
admissions counselor. He will be
returning to Phillips Academy
Andover this summer to teach
philosophy and French before
coming back to Annapolis in
August and beginning at Indian
Creek Upper School in
Crownsville, where he will teach
English. He is happily settled into
life as an Eastporter, and reminds
his classmates that they always have
an open door and furnished table
when they come back to town.
“I am currently an AmeriCorps
member building houses for
Habitat for Humanity in Raleigh,
N.C.,” writes DEBORAH MANGUM
(A). “Anyone interested in
traveling, experimenting with
different fields, gathering different
experiences after/during/before
college should look them up at
americorps.org.” x
What’s Up?
The College wants to hear from
you. Call us, write us, e-mail us.
Let your classmates know what
you’re doing. The next issue
will be published in October;
deadline for the alumni notes
section is September 10.
In Annapolis:
The College Magazine
St. John’s College, P.O. Box 2800
Annapolis, MD 21404;
rosemary.harty@sjca.edu
In Santa Fe:
The College Magazine
St. John’s College
1160 Camino Cruz Blanca
Santa Fe, NM 87505-4599;
alumni@sjcsf.edu
{ The College • St. John’s College • Summer 2008 }