Alum News

Class of 2003

Alexi Arvanitidis is now living in the Middle East. He resides in Doha, Qatar and is working for the 2006 Summer Asian Games Organizing Committee. He is enjoying his time out there, but also misses the US and is looking forward to going back. It is very hot in Doha. After Doha, Alexi hopes to get a job with the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee. (2006)

David Blanchard has just started the 2-year MBA program at the Tepper School of Business in Carnegie Mellon University.

Joseph Cabarrus is currently in Quantico, VA as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Upon completion of The Basic School, he will start the initial phases of flight school in Pensacola, FL. He is looking forward to getting back to someplace with a beach. (2005)

Janice Chung has obtained her MS degree from USC in preventive medicine and is now working as a biostatistician in the Clinical Studies department at the House Ear Institute. She's planning on starting her doctorate degree soon at USC and still resides in Eagle Rock. (2007)

After graduation, Abby Crone moved to NYC and began work on June 2 in Men's Merchandising at Club Monaco. In addition to being very busy at work and taking advantage of the nightlife in Manhattan, Abby is also training for her first marathon (Memphis on December 6!) and has joined the Tri-State Area Alumni Steering Committee. (2003)

After returning home to the island paradise of Sri Lanka, Nishantha de Silva has successfully engaged in three months of inaction and plans to brazen it out for several more; however, he fears that work may happen to him sooner rather than later. In the meanwhile, he is so bored that he is actually contemplating reading his economics textbooks for the first time. (2003)

Chris Gagne is an account manager at Leads360, a successful dot-com in Los Angeles. After two years in the "real-world," he's back to working in shorts and bare feet. He never did learn Mandarin or welding, but his work on his nonprofit project Cerbumi.org will keep him well occupied. And, yes, he still drinks a quart of coffee a day, thank-you-very-much. (2005)

Josie Gallardo worked at Community Partners as a Finance Assistant for 1.5 years. Josie is now a kindergarten teacher under LAUSD. (2005)

Mercedes Givens moved back home to Kansas City after graduation to work for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. His primary duty is recruiting for the Bank and other Human Resource related project management. He keeps in touch with other OXY alums Charles Rigby, Jelani Kelly, Adam Glasser-Weinstein, Kwasi Gyane, and Gabe Chipe on a regular basis. They are in the process of planning an annual get together to ensure they remain in contact. Mercedes says he is eager to return to the West Coast, as he is not looking forward to the cold Mid-West winters that lie ahead. (2003)

Robbie Greenman Living in Portland, OR working for a RIA money management firm. Bought a fixer last spring next to Lewis & Clark College and spend free time remodeling. Also coaching varsity high school football. (2006)

Andrew Heath was recently hired by UBS Investment Bank. After searching all summer long for a job, it only took recruiters a week to place him. He is currently working on the largest trading floor in the world for the par loan trading desk. Anyone ever in NYC look him up. (2004)

Katy Loos is still living in the "Biggest Little City in the World" - Reno, and enjoying being kept very busy at the Peppermill Hotel Casino as the Events & Entertainment Manager. With fall & winter approaching the LA area is much missed and hopefully there will be many trips to enjoy the snowless climate. (2006)

Nate Merandi is still living and working in Los Angeles--if you've heard any rumors, well, we hope they're not true. He wishes all the best to his classmates and fellow alumnus. (2005)

Marisa Omori has happily relocated back to southern California and has just started a PhD program in Criminology, Law and Society at UC Irvine. She intends to apply her econ background to the seemingly unrelated subject by focusing on drug markets and policy (2007).

Andy Stephens has made the transition from pupil to pedagogue and has begun the new school year as an 8th grade science teacher in San Fernando. (2003)

Zachary Toy: After graduation I decided to take a year off and travel. I was living in London and traveling throughout Europe trying to see more of the world before getting settled into a steady job.
Recently, I have moved back to LA and am about to start working for Rocket Science Laboratories. They are a television production company that mainly works with Fox. (2004)

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