The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/114745
classnotes 23 Caitlyn Shaddock '11 writes, "Since graduation in May From left, Adam Epstein '05, Megan's sister Jocelyn Lally '05, Kate Larrabee, Vonda Bui '05, Jessica Sexton '04, 2011, I completed my master of arts in teaching, secondary Jay Flanagan '06, and Mark Epstein. education, and am currently teaching 9th grade physics at a regional high school on the South Shore." More than 400 participants turned out for the First Annual Run Like an Antelope Memorial 5K for Megan Lally '02, who lost her 3½-year battle with breast cancer in September 2011. The event combines Megan's loves of running and music with the camaraderie of a post-race celebratory beer, giving friends a chance to come together to honor and Ajay Dhesikan '12 started a company (deltarank.com) that remember Megan while working to eradicate this awful disease. Megan's husband, Dave "Rusty" Gray '96 says, helps businesses get more customers through online market- "Our first 5K raised $26,000 for metastatic breast cancer research at Massachusetts-area hospitals, including UMass ing. "With so many people acquiring and using mobile devic- Memorial and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. We hope our second race in October 2013 will do even better." Many WPI es like smartphones," he says, "we immediately identified a alumni contributed to the effort, as organizers, runners, and supporters. Entertainment included the Antelope All- need for businesses to have mobile-optimized websites. Most Stars, fronted by guitarist Matt McDaniel '04, who dedicated a set to Megan and the race participants. regular websites are not mobile-friendly, which makes them difficult to navigate and causes frustration for users. Our Read about Megan's battle at meganpinkblog.blogspot.com. mobile-optimized websites just feel right on smartphones and are loved by our clients and the people who visit them." dam and Belarus, respectively; Ben Johnson '11 and Michael Solano '12 joined the Peace Corps to serve as a Rowing standout John Madura '12 competed in the 2012 Tobin McGee '10 rowed at the 2010 event. A near con- math teacher in Lesotho. "My mother was a Peace Corps vol- Men's Under 23 World Championships in Trakai, Lithuania, in tender was Ricky Holak '12, who earned a spot in the finals unteer when she met my father," he explains, "so without the July, in the men's double sculls rowing competition. Although but finished a close fourth. Peace Corps I wouldn't be here!" He spent three months living with a host family to learn the language and culture, and will he did not achieve his personal goal of a top half finish, the North Jersey Record wrote that he had defied the odds just by Katherine Milligan '12 writes, "Recently started a new job spend the next two years teaching secondary-school math making the roster. Asked about his future prospects, he told with Athena Diagnostics as an associate med tech." and basic science at a local school. Sam O'Connor '12 writes, "I hope everyone has been doing Mianzhi Wang '12 writes: "To WPI students: Please enjoy new and exciting things with their lives since graduation. I'm the generosity of WPI. You would not be likely to find a gym still at WPI wrapping up my master's work, but I'm doing accessible throughout the year, workshops with free pizza, great! I'm still active on the women's rowing team and looking public computation clusters for all students, etc., in a state forward to my last season this spring." university like I am in now for my PhD program." the paper that he is thinking about whether to train for the next four years and go for the Olympics, or "do you want to move on with life?" This marked the third straight year a WPI student-athlete competed at U23 Worlds: Hank Moore '11 participated in the 2010 and 2011 championships in Amster- 92 Winter 2013