Dear alumni and friends,

I hope that this is the beginning of an annual tradition of the College, the Strong College Christmas letter. Many families that are separated by great distances find this a useful way to keep up to date on the happenings of their extended families. Unfortunately for me, all my family lives within about 20 miles of one another, so I have never done this before.

This letter will include updates on alumni from whom we have heard recently. Here are some of those updates.

Well, I’ll (Sherrill Hayes, ’97, MS ’00) start. I have finished my masters thesis proposal and now the fun part begins, the rest of it. I will have everything finished by spring and will graduate in May. After that, I intend to go to the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in England to study for my Ph.D. in family studies/social policy.

Amy Garrett, ’95, has really gone far since she was in Strong College, all the way to Berlin, Germany. She says: “I am writing from Europe. I am living and teaching in Berlin, Germany. I have a job at the John F. Kennedy Schule, a German-American Community School, here. I teach English (of course, thanks to Dr. White). Our school’s website is www.kennedy.beehive.de if you’re interested. There is an option to view it in English of course. I checked out the Strong College website and was very impressed, as I knew I would be. Sounds like Strong has grown by leaps and bounds in the five years since I graduated. I would love to come back and see it all.”

Kathleen Lance, ’98, has been a very busy individual recently. She writes: “I am completing my masters degree in speech-language pathology and will graduate in May 2000. I am currently conducting research on the self-esteem of adolescent language-impaired students versus their normal speech-language developing peers. This semester I practice speech-language pathology in three different schools and next semester I will be at VENCOR Hospital in Greensboro. This is also my first year serving as the Resident Director of Moore-Strong Hall/Cornelia Strong College and I am enjoying it.

Ann Miller (formerly Smith), ’97, is busy, busy (the double is intentional as she is now the mother of twins). “I’ve found myself thinking of you often in the last few years. I’ve come a long way from the person studying anthropology at the U, with an intense interest in biology. Now I am the mother of a set of very, very active premie twins (Lenore Sabre and Yolonda Brianne) and I am married to a wonderful young man. The last few years have been tough, especially with the girls premieness, but Per aspera ad astra. We are both looking to go back to school; he wants to study computer programming, I want to study nursing. I’m hoping to get some life credit for the last year as I’ve been the sole coordinator and primary care person for the girls.” Ann currently lives in a lovely little town in western Washington.

Todd Thomason, ’97, has good news of a different sort. “I guess the biggest and most significant news in my life is that Kristen [Leagan, ’97] and I are going to be married August 5, 2000. Everything else really pales in comparison. I’m in the last year of my MA program at UGA and will be finishing up in the Spring. So between translating/teaching Latin and thinking about the wedding, my time is fully occupied. I still find time to open the occasional can of whoop-ass on Scott [Thomason, ’99] to keep him in line, though.”

If would like to find out more about Scott’s whoopins contact Todd.

Scott Thomason, ’99, was found outside the Monday Nitro studios and had this rebuttal to his brother’s accusations:

I have no recollection of any can, carton, box, 32-gallon drum or other container of ‘whoop-ass’ being opened upon my person at any time by my brother. Even if the supposed ‘can of whoop-ass’ had been opened upon my person, the reason given for doing so has no basis in truth. Why would Todd have to keep me ‘in line’? That statement implies my behavior has at some point been undesirable or unacceptable. I have no recollection of this ever happening at any point in my past. In familial relations with my brother I have never engaged in name calling; e-mail, phone, fax, or video harassment; ‘picking’; ‘annoying’; the singing of poorly improvised and/or out-of-tune songs; the making of strange, unusual, rude, or crude faces, gestures, or sounds; or any other type of behavior that might cause one to put another person ‘in line.’

Scott is also in the first year of the MA program in the History department at UNCG and occasionally has difficulty with his tires.

Kathy Ross, ’96, and Justin Logan are moving to Portland, Oregon on December 14th. They will arrive in Portland by the 20th. She writes: “Our new house is fancy, full of unfamiliar luxuries such as a dishwasher, new carpeting, and a window seat in the den. But, most importantly, it has a finished basement that would make a perfect guest room (HINT, HINT).” Their new address and phone number:

Kathy Ross and Justin Logan
6324 N. Burrage Ave.
Portland, OR 97217
503-289-6234

Doug Yorke, 98, is gainfully employed in the university system. He writes: “I’ve been working at Wake Forest Univ. as a Computer Support Consultant. Basically I assist students, staff and faculty with any question they may have about their IBM ThinkPads or other technology issues.” His title is: Computer Support Consultant, Information Systems Support Center.

Rob Lawter, ’99, is in law school at Chapel Hill, working hard, and trying to enjoy himself.

Notes from Strong College Abroad

Piotr Chruszczewski, a former exchange student from Poland, is working at home at the University of Wroclaw in the Institute of English and is still raving about his Strong College experience. He can be contacted at:

Piotr Chruszczewski, B.A., M.A.
Institute of English
University of Wroclaw
KUZNICZA 22, 50-138 WROCLAW
POLAND

Kelvin Wong, a 1998 member of Strong College and an exchange student from Singapore, writes: “I am now working in the Info-Communications Development Authority. It is a statutory board under the purview of the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which is responsible for the growth and development of the telecommunications and IT industries in Singapore, including IT policies, strategic planning and business development in Singapore. I do stuff like government infrastructural projects, strategic planning and development, budgets, government IT masterplans and etc.” His designation is: Assistant Manager, Infrastructure and Technology, Government Chief Information Office, Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore.

There are a few people that we have been keeping up with that do not have information here, but if you visit our website you can find out more about, Adam Cox, ’99, Turkesshia Moore, ’99, Cliff Rhodes, M.L.I.S. ’97, and Andrew Winternitz, ’99.

I would like to send another Strong family letter at the end of the academic year, therefore if you have any news about marvelous things that have happened or will happen to you soon, let me know.

Per aspera ad astra,

Sherrill W. Hayes, ’97
President, Strong College Alumni Association