Shows
Roads TakenA New Roads Taken SeasonWelcome back to Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley. We are thrilled to be bringing you another great season of stories that remind us that you don’t have to know exactly where you’re going, you just need to be open to the adventure that awaits. As in all our previous seasons, in each episode we will talk to our guests—all a quarter-century-plus after college—about who they were as they graduated, who they thought they’d become, and how they’ve traveled down various roads to get where they are today. This season, we will be talking abou...2023-04-1601 min
Roads TakenPlanting Ideas: Jenny Land Mackenzie on nurturing a sense of place and the next generationGuest Jenny Land Mackenzie grew up in Vermont and figured she would likely return there one day. However, her college career—filled as it was with all sort of creative explorations and outdoor adventures—set her up to delve into one passion only to have it lead her to another passion. This began when her interest in the history of clothing led her to an internship at a museum led by a mentor who would ultimately spark a passion for organic farming. The love of the land led her to other gardening adventures which led her to teaching adventures. Teach...2022-11-1429 min
Roads TakenDemocratic Experiment: Amel Ahmed on figuring out what’s happeningGuest Amel Ahmed ventured to college from an urban immigrant community and she spent much of her college career trying to figure out what was happening—academically, socially, culturally. She realized that she found comfort in embedding herself in the liminal spaces and really probing them, using the eye of an astute ethnographer and sleuthing historian. By the time she was ready to leave her undergraduate experience, she had a laser focus on continuing to study the Middle East and how ideals and systems of democracy could be spread there.In her first semester of grad school, ho...2022-11-0726 min
Roads TakenGreat Expectations: Luke Brown on taking time and giving yourself grace to find your wayGuest Luke Brown had a long-standing desire to become a professor. Though both English and physics seemed plausible at one point, he was pulled into the study of history through a classics course. His senior year of college, he thought he had it all figured out: he got engaged to his college girlfriend and he was applying to graduate school. He ended up getting married, but he also got rejected from every history graduate program to which he had applied. He got back on track a year later, but ultimately let go of the PhD he'd thought he'd been...2022-10-3127 min
Roads TakenMedical History: John Peoples on understanding people's needs and being there for themGuest John Peoples had never considered himself a science person, let alone one to follow the pre-med track. He had only a sense that he was independent and wanted to help people. After an off-term spent caring for his ailing grandfather and hearing his grandmother's stories about caregivers in their family, he began to reconsider a career in medicine. He returned to school and fleshed out his history major with pre-med requirements. With not quite enough time to finish and take the MCAT before graduation, he enrolled in a post-baccalaureate pre-med program in New York.Not sure...2022-10-2424 min
Roads TakenCenter Stage: Patricia Herrera on centering others’ stories and finding your ownGuest Patricia Herrera was on the premed path, happily thinking of herself as a STEM person. A chance encounter with Latinx theater in a freshman seminar led her to take to the stage and realized she loved it. She infused her science studies with healthy doses of theater opportunities but always thought of those pursuits as a hobby. After a term-long immersion experience with peers who were thinking about the stage as a profession, she received advice from a counselor: You don’t have to do what others expect but rather what makes you happy. She changed majors to th...2022-10-1729 min
Roads TakenSuper Conductor: Joseph Marcheso on matching your value to someone else’s needsGuest Joseph Marcheso was six or seven years old when he found out that being an opera conductor was something someone could do. From that moment, he knew he wanted to be one. So going to an Ivy League school was somewhat of an insurance policy in case he decided to let go of his dream. When his dream didn’t change, it became a bit of a liability as it disconnected him from the musical world for a number of years.Through persistence, he built the connections and skills that he needed by conducting at a sm...2022-10-1033 min
Roads TakenEnvironmental Lobby: Tiernan Sittenfeld on building coalitions and finding one’s voiceGuest Tiernan Sittenfeld had glimpses in high school of not only the grandeur of America's landscapes but also the degradation that was happening within them when she saw clear cuts up close. She was drawn to understand how we can best conserve these lands and the communities linked to them and took advantage of the first opportunity to earn an Environmental Studies certificate in college and take an international study program in Kenya. Those experiences, and a term spent working on a state senate race, made her see the overlap between conservation and politics.She began her ca...2022-10-0327 min
Roads TakenData Architect: Cameron Turner on building worlds and paying attention to the userGuest Cameron Turner had come to college with a full-sized drafting table and a dream to become an architect. He had to build his own academic program, augmenting his studio art major with an engineering minor and internship experiences at a variety of architecture firms. Going through corporate recruiting, he got an opportunity to work at Microsoft and figured it would be an experience for a couple years. The company sought his design skills, however, to help make its productivity products more robust and elegant and put him on a path within product management and user experience design and th...2022-09-2628 min
Roads TakenTime Traveler: Keshav Puttaswamy on appreciating both change and stabilityGuest Keshav Puttaswamy was excited to be able to dabble in the full liberal arts curriculum of college and found an interest in computer science. When he had the opportunity to intern at Microsoft in a rather new role of product manager he took it despite not knowing what it would entail. He ended up learning a lot about not only computer science but also how the business worked and had fun doing it. But it felt didn’t feel like a mainstream route for either a computer scientist or a business person so he thought about other roles in e...2022-09-1931 min
Roads TakenPacing Yourself: Suzanne Leonard on finding the right outlets and spending time where it mattersGuest Suzanne Leonard joined the staff of The Dartmouth, but realized the pace of a daily paper didn’t give her time to spend with the stories or the words she was writing. A work-study job at the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine gave her a taste of a different pace that suited her better. A double English and psychology major, she found the perfect internship, working as an assistant at Psychology Today and left college convinced she would work in magazine publishing. Landing at Fitness magazine, she didn’t end up feeling comfortable with either the content or the paycheck. She to...2022-09-1223 minRoads TakenAnnouncing Roads Taken's Next SeasonThe 25th-ish college reunion that many of the shows guests and host Leslie Jennings Rowley were able to attend this summer was a great chance to reconnect, and she felt as though that they were able to greet one another with a lot more authenticity this time around. It could have just been their slightly advanced age and the wisdom that comes with it. But enough people mentioned that having heard classmates’ stories ahead of time—where they shared their vulnerabilities, their twists and turns, their ups and downs—actually made jumping into the face-to-face feel a lot less surfac...2022-09-1101 minRoads TakenHiatus AnnouncementThe original aim of this podcast series was to tell the stories of many classmates of the Dartmouth Class of 1996 before our 25th reunion. Due to the postponement, we've had a chance to interview even more people than we thought we could. The Reunion is coming up next week and we can't wait to make even deeper connections in person in a live event and just through normal conversation. The show will be taking a much deserved hiatus.But before we do take a break, we wanted to reflect on what we learned in our 100-plus conversations...2022-07-1102 min
Roads TakenApplied Lessons: Oliver Will on seeing the big picture and adjusting to the reality in front of youGuest Oliver Will was always good at math and when he got to college he figured he would parlay that into a science or engineering degree. While taking the mathematics prerequisites for a number of majors, he realized he liked the theoretical elegance of the math itself. And yet, he was interested in real-world applications, too. A course in bioethics introduced him to the idea of the computational work involved the human genome sequencing and the idea of bio-statistics. He applied to graduate programs straight from undergrad and got a PhD in applied mathematics.As other guests on...2022-07-0429 min
Roads TakenExecutive Function: Brendan Doherty on staying, going, and planning for the futureGuest Brendan Doherty had entered college thinking he was a math and science person, was then drawn to government but his choice of major—geography—ultimately felt made for him when the government courses were all full. His post-college decision points, however, seemed to always weigh the balance between two weighty options. First he needed to decide whether he would stick with the favored idea of law school and not fully enjoy the work or choose a riskier unsure path. Then, when conflicting religious beliefs complicated his burgeoning relationship with a wonderful woman, he needed to decide whether they should...2022-06-2723 min
Roads TakenLara Fowler on Long CovidRecently, ROADS TAKEN sat down to talk with Lara Fowler about her tendency to become and remain curious about things, leading her to a wide variety of interests and ultimately into a career in water resource management.When the coronavirus pandemic hit, she had to wind down a year living in Sweden with her family and navigate her husband’s long covid symptoms on two continents. Join Leslie Jennings Rowley as she talks to Lara about this for a special covid-19 Bonus Episode of ROADS TAKEN.For more on Lara's adventures in Sweden with husband Chris (Dartmouth '9...2022-06-2512 min
Roads TakenThe Deep End: Lara Fowler on Staying Curious and Nurturing ExpertiseGuest Lara Fowler had been a cross-country ski racer and studied Japanese in high school in Portland, Oregon. She took those two pursuits to college and pursued them to their highest. With all of the language requirements and a study abroad program that she wanted to undertake, she had nearly completed a major in Asian Studies. But she also had a long-standing interest in water. So in fulfilling her distribution requirements, she found ways to study water from multiple angles, did off-campus research in the topic, and ultimately won a senior fellowship to devote her final year to writing a...2022-06-2027 min
Roads TakenSmartest in the Room: John Strayer on finding different talents and still helping peopleGuest John Strayer had figured his post-graduation life would find him either the author of the Great American Novel or dead. While his ambition was large, so was his problem with alcohol. His alcoholism made him limp along senior year. Luckily, as he says, he hit rock bottom soon thereafter and has been sober 25 years. While the Midwest was a good landing pad while he got his life back on track, he missed the pace and intellectualism of the east coast and picked up and moved to D.C. He knew law school would be in the cards, but he...2022-06-1328 min
Roads TakenMusic Lessons: Michael Roberts on getting better and connecting with an audienceGuest Michael Roberts had already taken on the identity of musician—specifically singer—while in high school. He was encouraged by his parents to attend college where he could be pursue what he loved while being exposed to a wide range of subjects and experiences through a liberal arts curriculum. It would also be convenient if he attended Dartmouth, the same place his three siblings had already enrolled. And so he did, and he continued to live into the singer identity, graduating into a master’s program in vocal music with his sights set on continuing a professional voice career...2022-05-2329 min
Roads TakenBetter Environments: Kira Lawrence on finding strength in difference and leaving the world betterGuest Kira Lawrence felt, in high school, that she was considered odd by the academic kids because she was a “jock” and wasn’t quite a mainstream athlete because she was a “brain.” In college she felt accepted for both of those identities in a place that had lots of people who were both. But, in realizing she was gay, she gained a whole new perspective on what it meant to feel “othered.” While initially frustrating, she contends that that perspective has infused her personal and professional passions with a fight for more equality.At a time when mainstream...2022-05-1639 min
Roads TakenMaking Lemonade: Sharon Walker on using discomfort as fuel for changeGuest Sharon Walker left her home in Trinidad for college in New Hampshire, thinking it was somewhere close to New York City. She quickly realized the cosmopolitan life she’d anticipated wasn’t what she would be living. So that first year was rather miserable. It was only after deciding that summer that she’d fling herself into activities that she started feeling part of the community and took advantage of what college could offer her.Upon graduation, she finally made it to New York, living with friends and working at a start-up. But when her visa ran out...2022-05-0923 min
Roads TakenIn a Blink of an Eye: Dave Leone on finding focus beyond yourself and getting back on trackGuest Dave Leone realized during college that his interest in chemistry might not be long lived. Instead, he found earth sciences. Upon graduation, he options were graduate school, petroleum geology, or environmental geology. He found a small environmental firm that let him do a little of everything and then moved on to a larger firm where he has stayed for nearly a quarter century, assessing contaminated properties and remediating them for beneficial use.It was at the firm—during a 200-mile charity bike ride—that he met his wife. And after buying a house and expecting a baby...2022-05-0220 min
Roads TakenLifelong Learner: Stephanie Argamaso saying yes and embracing the beginner’s mindGuest Stephanie Argamaso knew exactly who she was when she entered college: a quiet perfectionist—to the point of having to write a script for her pizza order to place next to the phone. She majored in environmental science and minored in religion but didn’t see herself using those fields after graduation. In order not to have to go home to New York, she stuck around Hanover for a couple extra years and had the fortune to audit a filmmaking class, which sparked her interest. She ended up taking a film bootcamp and getting experience—and an IMDb editing...2022-04-2529 min
Roads TakenGood Policy: Rebecca Benn defining yourself by what you love and putting the rest in perspectiveGuest Rebecca Benn was excited to meet new people at college since she had been with the same small handful of schoolmates in her Mississippi Catholic school for her entire upbringing. Despite the welcome diversity of experiences of that she saw in her college friends, however, she also recognized similarities in values and inquisitiveness. She immersed herself in making deep friendships and in subjects that brought her enjoyment, namely English literature and education. She didn’t think these would necessarily be building blocks to a specific career path but pursued them out of interest.When a fellowship to...2022-04-1825 min
Roads TakenEmbracing Life, Pt 2: Nakiah Cherry ChinchillaGuest Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla shared part one of her Roads Taken story, in which she talked about her early career in fashion and television and how she was always listening to her heart and feeling as though she were called to do more. At the same time, her home life became very confusing when her husband began exhibiting odd behaviors. That chapter ended as her husband Mike—who had been hospitalized numerous times for mental illness—came home and things between them seemed to repair themselves. Eventually, a psychiatric admission to the emergency room helped Nakiah recognize the symptoms of Hu...2022-04-1142 min
Roads TakenEmbracing Life, Pt 1: Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla on listening to your heart and tenaciously keeping onGuest Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla felt as though she was born a generation too late, as she has always felt a call to advocate for societal change and for help people. But she also has listened to the call to go out on the town and live it up. Upon leaving college, she entered into the fashion industry in New York, taking on public relations and operations roles with big brands such as DKNY and fashion magazines such as Allure and Elle. Although it was fun to rub elbow with designers, photographers, and hip hop artists and get to go t...2022-04-0438 min
Roads TakenRaising Good Humans: Aliza Pressman on taking on a role and getting the tools to embody itGuest Aliza Pressman went to college wanting to develop a side of herself beyond her natural artistic side. Although she did have a range of experiences while there, she ended up combining her interests in art history, English literature, and drama and exploring the human condition throughout it all. Not wanting the experience to end with graduation, she and some friends started a theater company in New York. After a few years, when she saw that other people had deeper drive and talent than she was mustering, she found other ways to make connection, namely working with kids in t...2022-03-2825 min
Roads TakenLeveling Up: Andrew Friedman on looking for challenge and figuring things outEven when guest Andrew Friedman didn't have much experience with something, but thought it would be a fun challenge to try, he would go after it. For example, having never played football in his life, he walked onto the college team. Having taken only a couple computer science classes, he started building websites for area business while still in college. In hindsight, trying to get a job in a growing internet company such as Amazon or Yahoo would have fit his self-taught skills and passions. Instead, he found himself at what he considered a traditional job consulting for PriceWaterhouse....2022-03-2127 min
Roads TakenWhat’s At Stake: Sarah Lugaric on finding and safeguarding our place in the worldGuest Sarah Lugaric was drawn to the study of religion and the myths and narratives that all cultures have to help us understand ourselves and our place in the world. Leaving college without the clearest sense of who she was, but with a job on Wall Street, she learned the culture of business and found that she was still interested in what that said about being human. She didn’t love banking, though, and when she finally quit, she took a 30-day sea kayaking trip, rekindling her relationship with nature and herself. She found a consulting company that applied the...2022-03-1434 minRoads TakenReintroduction to Roads Taken and How to ConnectWelcome to Roads Taken, the show that reminds us that you don’t have to know exactly where you’re going, you just need to be open to the adventure that awaits.Each Monday we release another episode in which a classmate from Dartmouth’s Class of ’96 sits down with host Leslie Jennings Rowley to share their stories about who they were in college, who they thought they’d be, and how they’ve meandered down various roads to get where they are today. We invite you to be open to the many ways you can connect w...2022-03-0801 min
Roads TakenRevisited: Dan Gonzalez - Purpose over PassionGuest Dan Gonzalez left college most concerned with keeping his options open. In the pursuit of breadth, he dabbled in everything from health care consulting and after-school drama programs for kids, and even considered med school. But then he heeded the oft-proffered advice to "follow your passion," realized music-making had been a source of earlier joy, and enrolled in a song-writing program at Berklee College of Music.To make ends meet, he had been tutoring at a test prep company and got hooked into an industry he'd never considered through the power of one uniquely-run company. It end...2022-03-0722 min
Roads TakenInternational Moves: Shuhei Sekiguchi on embracing the unknown and being ready to say yesGuest Shuhei Sekiguchi had moved halfway around the world to attend college in the Northeast U.S., having been raised in Japan. Though he came from a family steeped in the health professions, he took an interest through internships in advertising and found his first job in that field upon graduation. Not fulfilled by having clients inexplicably shooting down ideas, he found work in sales at an educational start-up to be aligned with a field that felt more fulfilling. What he realized, though is that these early jobs centered on two especially domestic pursuits—advertising and education—and was lookin...2022-03-0123 min
Roads TakenRedefining Success: Doug Asano on fending for yourself and reaching out for helpGuest Doug Asano had always had a fascination with Wall Street and could envision himself there. In the middle of sophomore year, the impetus to get a job there became less theoretical and more practical when his father said that Doug would need to pay the rest of his way through college. With an upperclass mentor already working in investment banking, he was able to get internships at prestigious banks and land a job at JP Morgan at the end of the summer before senior year.That summer, however, was also the time when Sarah Devens, a cla...2022-02-2135 min
Roads TakenKeep Trying: Elizabeth Manheim Ades on sticking with what you want and finding new ways to bounce backGuest Elizabeth Manheim Ades had known medical school was in her future but decided to take advantage of a liberal arts education and major in history. A senior year course on topics and ethics in assisted reproduction and a related research project solidified that a life in medicine—specifically IVF—would be hers. So when a first attempt at med school admission didn’t work in her favor, she sought out post-bac medical programs that would qualify her. Instead she found herself in a PhD program in microbiology and molecular genetics, with no intention to teach or do research or even...2022-02-1438 min
Roads TakenSense of Place: Holly Parker on listening to your gut and finding your placeGuest Holly Parker went to college knowing she’d be an English major and a squash player and stumbled upon a passion for the environment and sustainability. She graduated with the thought of being a journalist and tried her hand at it at a boating publication. Though she didn’t want to turn into her mother—a teacher—she did have a small itch to try teaching. What she thought would be a short stint at a private school near her Massachusetts hometown became a 12-year career in which she led the English department. But after having spent summe...2022-02-0728 min
Roads TakenPutting Yourself Out There: Kishan Putta on getting to know people and asking what they needGuest Kishan Putta—who boldly introduced himself to everyone the first week of college as Kishan, like fishin’—always knew a life of public service would suit him. His parents both immigrants from small villages in India, worked for the state of New York, his mother in biology and his father as an engineer in environmental issues. To Kishan it just made sense to want to give back. But he was unsure the type of service that he would want to do and on what scale.His first step to figuring that out was through graduate school at Harv...2022-01-3124 min
Roads TakenBrand Manager: Christy Hansel Lohof on being grounded on land and seeing the continuum of lifeGuest Christy Hansel Lohof grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, attendant with all the feed and milking duties. Her parents were sure to leave time for other activities such as competitive sports, which Christy continued in college. With a biology major and geology minor, she left college without a clear picture of what was to come next, assuming that she would go to veterinary school. After a year of living at home and working for a veterinarian, she realized she wasn’t committed to that work. So she headed west, where she had visited during a br...2022-01-2422 min
Roads TakenInternational Man of Mystery: Jorge Motoshige on never staying still and gaining new experiencesGuest Jorge Motoshige felt as though college surrounded him with an interesting, diverse group of people that helped him land in a number of different places with some comfort, because he didn't have any concerns about being able to get out there and meeting new people of all kinds of different backgrounds. Get out there, he did, becoming employee number 113 at Yahoo upon graduation. After a number of years in producing there, he timed his departure right before the first dotcom bust and left the company in 2000. Figuring out where to go and who to be next proved more di...2022-01-1716 min
Roads TakenThe Helping Explorer: Jennie Tranter on trying on personae and grounding decisions in valuesGuest Jennie Tranter decided to try on a new persona in college and be more outgoing and social than she’d been previously. Academically, having desired to be a doctor, she loaded on the science classes. She took a religion course to fill a distributive requirement and was completely taken by the idea that, unlike in science, there may not be just one right answer and she may have to become more comfortable with uncertainty. She became a religion major and, after a study abroad program in Europe, doubled down on her German studies with her eye on getting back...2022-01-1026 min
Roads TakenNot Easily Thwarted: Mary Romano on finding a way around barriers and removing them for othersGuest Mary Romano was sure she wanted to be a doctor. But she really loved Latin and Greek and didn’t want to give up everything for her medical dreams too soon. So she majored in the classics and stayed on the pre-Med track. When others were getting into medical schools—or letting their med school dreams go, Mary did neither. Without a place to land, she went back home and regrouped.She ultimately went to medical school in the Caribbean, an experience in itself. And returned to the U.S. for her clinicals and hospital placements in the...2022-01-0326 min
Roads TakenPoetic Justice: Erika Meitner on tackling age-old issues and creating new narrativesGuest Erika Meitner was raised in a household where reformed Judaism revolved around justice and social action. As a first-generation American, her immigrant parents expected her to go into a medical career or something established. Raised with an eye toward social justice and a voice to say something about it, though, she was drawn to both the arts—particularly creative writing—and religious studies in college and spoke up for women's rights and other issues. Upon receiving a fellowship to study in Jerusalem after graduation, she studied Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, and biblical and literary translation and considered rabbinical school...2021-12-2724 min
Roads TakenA Lot on the Brain: Ken Lee on making choices that make sense and dealing with those that don'tGuest Ken Lee had not really thought he would be a lawyer; he went to law school as a means for kicking life’s decision-making down the road. After a summer job at the Attorney General’s office in Boston and a course of study that pointed him to litigation, he had a couple of views of paths he could take. He started in litigation at a number of firms but found, over time, that he didn’t find much joy in it. He figured that if a partner position came, he would continue the toil. The partner job did no...2021-12-2029 min
Roads TakenI'm lovin' it: Morgan Flatley on trying to do hard things and having fun doing itGuest Morgan Flatley had a job in non-profit consulting after college, but felt motivated more by seeing the female owner run her own small business than the content itself. After traveling a bit and taking personality inventories from her parents’ home, she realized that she loves being around people and ideating creative solutions. This led her to the advertising world, business school, and a career in marketing.Over the years she has had opportunities to work on some of the world’s most iconic brands. After a decade in product management for Gatorade, she was tapped to head...2021-12-1327 min
Roads TakenManifest Destiny: Shawn Snipes Gasparini on saying what you need and acting when it comesGuest Shawn Snipes Gasparini loved science and thought she would be a pediatrian so that she could be a role model for other kids with diabetes or kids of color. But when she started taking electives in English and film studies, she knew she was pursuing medicine for people other than herself. She changed her major at the end of junior year and left college bound for NYU film school.She deferred for a year to make money and get a little experience so she could launch herself fully into film and storytelling. Along the way, she...2021-12-0628 min
Roads TakenMaking Karen Great Again: Karen M. Smith DeBolt on uncovering new aspects of who you can beGuest Karen M. Smith DeBolt always rocked a put-together look—an important expression of her cultural and individual motto “Dress well, test well.” As her Colombian mother had made clear, in looking the part you could eventually feel the part. This was key for Karen who didn’t really feel as though Dartmouth was the right choice for her until she met her tribe of women friends sophomore year who she knew had her back.After graduation, she understandably expected to live a fabulous life in New York City, working for Chanel. When that didn’t materialize, she found...2021-11-2927 min
Roads TakenFree Spirit: Mariya Rosberg on listening to the call of the wild and applying it closer to homeGuest Mariya Rosberg felt as though she had lived a somewhat sheltered beginning of life. At college, she leaned into everything that could expand her world, from languages to travel and found herself particularly drawn to ideas around gender equity. She married classwork in gender studies with real-world applications both on campus and abroad. She always felt the pull to adventure and believed she would just follow her free spirit into the life of a wanderer.After a little independent travel, she landed in the only spot that made sense to that free spirit: Manhattan’s West Vi...2021-11-2220 min
Roads TakenGrowing a Backbone: Adam Wollowick on figuring out for yourself what you should doGuest Adam Wollowick figured he would go to medical school but also brought a love of art history with him from high school. He took on an art history major along with his pre-med classes and bounced from fraternity basement to library, living the “work hard, play hard” ethos. With a father in orthopedics, he followed in that practice when he realized he liked working with his hands and selected spine surgery because it was the hardest thing he could try. At every turn, though, he wondered if medicine was really for him. Colleagues kept telling him just had to g...2021-11-1525 min
Roads TakenMaking Space: Julie Kline Dixon on listening to life’s rhythms and creating a place to call homeHad Dartmouth offered a course of study in architecture, guest Julie Kline Dixon may have taken it. At an early age, she would cover her school notes with sketches of floor plans and seemed drawn to the field. She had sat through one day of the sole architecture course she saw offered, but dropped the course when she realized it was mostly focused on the structure of bridges and that didn’t appeal to her. When, as a history major, she approached graduation, she didn’t have an idea of what she was going to do. Still, she couldn’t shake t...2021-11-0826 min
Roads TakenCreating Connection: Soraya O'Brien Jollon on celebrating life and starting new adventuresGuest Soraya O’Brien Jollon started her career in management consulting but realized that there were elements of corporate life that didn’t suit her. She also realized that she wanted to do something that made people happy and she was also a bit of a control freak. Enter event planning.She found she liked all the things that make most people panic, dealing with other people's emotions and with the stress around planning stemming from such uncomfortable topics as family, religion or money (or all three). She started her own company in New York City where she...2021-11-0128 min
Roads TakenGratitude, Attitude, & Courage: Kate Andrews Kelly on finding joy by developing it in othersGuest Kate Kelly had grown up thinking about herself as an athlete. But she also was someone who sought out joy in all aspects of her life. She liked being around kids, so figured she would be an educator. But something whispered to her that educating kids wasn’t all about being in the classroom. She started working in admissions and coaching at an independent school in Massachusetts but wished she could make a longer relationship with the students.Working in residential life, she was on the academic calendar, so her summers were free and she reached ou...2021-10-2533 min
Roads TakenPursuing Integrity: Tim Chow on being true to yourselfGuest Tim Chow took a long time to make peace with who he was. As a closeted gay man in the mid-nineties—not a particularly open time—his college rah-rah spirit masked a feeling of not living authentically in his skin. He found pockets of interest, tucking himself away in the small Italian department, often working one-on-one with his professors, and studying abroad. But when he left college he still didn’t have a clear sense of who he was. In going to law school, he was following someone else’s expectations and eventually realized he needed to come out. The...2021-10-1823 min
Roads TakenLucky and Charmed: K.C. Danzansky on staying the course and finding the newGuest K.C. Danzansky could barely believe that one could make a major by reading classic literature, analyzing it, and writing about it. She considered her English major not only fun but a good grounding in the liberal arts that would prove useful in a career. But because she loved the literary world, she figured she would remain in it, working at a publishing house or something similar. The famously low salaries and the prospect of living in the publishing mecca of New York City did not appeal, however. So she took a look at the companies that defended...2021-10-1120 min
Roads TakenLesson Plans: Kate Shanahan on focusing on the first step and keeping at itGuest Kate Shanahan, Dartmouth ’96, had grown up in Hanover in her elementary years and searched for colleges elsewhere. But nothing compared to the College on the Hill and so returned to rediscover the campus she knew so well. It took her time to find her groove but English literature lit a spark for her. Later, she found the Education department and the encounters she had there with professors and the material was life-changing. Upon graduation, she spent six more months in Hanover in the teacher preparation program, student teaching in a classroom that she’d been in as a nine...2021-10-0426 min
Roads TakenRunning Wild: Ryan Donovan on doing what you love and making healthy choicesGuest Ryan Donovan, Dartmouth ’96, felt as though his priorities were running, drinking, and studying in that order. But a guest speaker in a course on Sport and Society opened his eyes to how a government major might be able to marry his love of sport and a career. Dick Dunham ’53 talked about his career working with the U.S. Olympic Committee and Ryan reached out for some mentoring and a recommendation letter to an Olympic Committee internship. He didn’t get that internship but did land something in sport, which kicked off a career in the sport world that he love...2021-09-2718 min
Roads TakenLearning by Doing: Carrie Kuss on walking down the roads and feeling the fitGuest Carrie Kuss, Dartmouth ’96, was at first sure that she was a future veterinarian. But after a few chemistry classes and more government classes, she was equally sure she was a future attorney, if not Supreme Court justice. Being waitlisted for law schools, she decided to make sure the law would be the right path and so served as a paralegal for a few years.While in a large firm in Boston, the law partner for whom she worked decided he wanted to run a charity golf tournament. The opportunity to organize and run the tournament for cha...2021-09-2020 min
Roads TakenWhat do you want?: Wendi Potter McKenna on doing the impossible and helping others do the sameGuest Wendi Potter McKenna, Dartmouth ’96, has always been one to look for what others found impossible and pursue it. In college, she found her passion and home among the women’s rowing team and considered it a big part of her identity. When she got a diagnosis of an athletic career-ending injury, she wasn't willing to accept it. Instead, she found a physical therapist who asked “What do you want?” and helped get her to do the impossible and get where she wanted to go. In the process, she realized she wanted to do that for others.After cha...2021-09-1324 min
Roads TakenIndependent Streak: Bill Tovell on finding the new after disaster strikes and forging one's own pathGuest Bill Tovell, Dartmouth ’96, left for college shortly after Hurricane Andrew ripped through Miami and destroyed his boyhood home and everything in it. He went as far as he could, to the wilds of New Hampshire, and looked for something new. He tried new things, such as rugby, and even set aside some preconceptions he had about a life in medicine. Economics and corporate recruiting took him into banking in New York despite a tantalizing set of discussions with the CIA. His work within financial services seemed fairly typical. But again, he was looking for something new and took an...2021-09-0631 min
Roads TakenCareer Coach: Sarah Hodges on skating through life and seeing things from both sidesGuest Sarah Howald Hughes, Dartmouth ’96, started playing hockey at age seven, at least a year after she wanted to. She was told girls couldn’t play in the league that young. When she was eligible she kept playing—with the boys—until going off to high school for junior and senior year, setting her sights on playing at the college level. Hockey got her to Dartmouth, which she ended up loving, despite the long hard hours of training, practicing and competing as a two-sport athlete. Though a formidable javelin thrower, she shone on the ice. As a college sporting career st...2021-08-3019 min
Roads TakenBalance of Power: Carrington Bradley on following twists of fate and exercising leadershipGuest Carrington Bradley, Dartmouth ’96, feels as though a number of happenstances, “twists of fate” as he calls them, have really helped shape the trajectory of his life. One of the earliest was when his mother stumbled across the ROTC scholarship application the day before it was due and—because it didn’t require an essay component—Carrington completed it. Getting that scholarship and joining the ROTC program at Dartmouth handed him the educational opportunity to study engineering and also took the pressure off during senior year when everyone else worried about what would come next. Without any decision-making on his part, he...2021-08-2326 min
Roads TakenDisruptive Mindset: Adam Medros on changing industries and changing the worldGuest Adam Medros, Dartmouth ’96, was had taken a gap year in Germany before college, reading and thinking and trying to figure out who he was. An economics major who worked in the library at Tuck School of Business, he was introduced to the world of strategy consulting and ending up being one of the rare few who sought out that career path intentionally. A job interview during a basement pong game sealed the deal and set him off on the consulting route.When he finally got into industry, early at Amazon, he realized that the way consultants lev...2021-08-1626 min
Roads TakenHeal Thyself: Sansea Jacobson on healing through empathy and modeling wellnessGuest Sansea Kaphan Jacobson, Dartmouth ’96, was assured of herself when she arrived at college, pre-med bound. But then she found Sanborn Library and let her love of literature guide her studies and put the pre-med dreams to bed. She took advantage of the corporate recruiting process to find her first job after college in the IT consulting world. She found, however, that she was more interested in impacting the people she served than the project outcomes. She decided to get back on track to the helping professions.After completing the post-bac courses necessary for med school, she had...2021-08-0930 min
Roads TakenCultural Fit: Kevin McGowan on prioritizing community and seeking it outGuest Kevin McGowan, Dartmouth ’96, says he was popular on campus because he drove Keg One. But it was more than the deliveries for Stinson’s that made him well-known and well-liked. Whether with his football teammates, classmates, or even his family, he has always prioritized the things that matter—nurturing relationships and doing the things you love. When he left college he hoped he would be happy with a good career and family.The career came in the form of multiple opportunities in the world of foreign exchange, first in New York and then in London. The adventu...2021-08-0226 min
Roads TakenStroke of Luck: Michael Zigmont on accepting what is and moving onGuest Micheal Zigmont, Dartmouth ’96, characterizes his college self as having been lost without even really knowing it. Graduating without a job was the manifestation of that. After six months living in his parents’ house, temping, he decided to try to land an analyst position on Wall Street, which he did. A quick test of the dot com world to make sure the grass wasn’t greener on the other side showed it wasn’t and he went right back to finance as though nothing happened. As he never burned his bridges on the way out, he found he was able to g...2021-07-2631 min
Roads TakenTaking Chances: Rose Lee on working outside comfort and seeking others to do the sameGuest Rose Lee, Dartmouth ’96, was psychology major, active in lots of extracurriculars. She didn't have a particular path in mind upon graduation, but she decided to leap into the unknown of consulting expressly because she didn't know anything about consulting and thought it would be a good challenge. After four years at a small firm followed by business school, that same pattern repeated itself.A female recruiter suggested that she take a look at the financial industry, seeing transferable skills and experience that Rose hadn’t even considered transfrerable. Being called out (or called in) made a big i...2021-07-1918 min
Roads TakenResearch and Development: Drew Natenshon on marrying interests and seeking out impactGuest Drew Natenshon, Dartmouth ’96, was a chemistry major but considered himself lazy and didn’t see the immediate path to a career after college. He interviewed with a small technology consulting company and became employee #32. After peaking at over 1,000 employees, the IPO in the boom years allowed him to get a really nice sports car. When his company—along with the industry—tanked, he had to sell the car (and more), but said he learned a very good lesson about how businesses should and shouldn’t run.A friend from high school told him about a master’s program at...2021-07-1222 min
Roads TakenChemical Attraction: Sara Paisner on getting close to the customer and using what you knowGuest Sara Paisner, Dartmouth ’96, had a teacher who brought the sciences alive for her early in life. She was drawn to chemistry in particular, with its explosions and crystals and what seemed like magic. It seemed a logical path to study chemistry in college and go directly into a PhD program. But along the way, she learned that academic research wasn’t what she thought it would be. She chose her postdoc someplace that would put her close to industry—specifically the Research Triangle of North Carolina. She began her industry work creating the materials that would go into microhi...2021-07-0529 min
Roads TakenLanguage of the Heart: Jeff Botelho on serving others and living by faithGuest Jeff Botelho, Dartmouth ’96, had always been interested in languages. In college, he studied history and Spanish. When he studied abroad and realized that his interest and skill in learning languages could open the world to him, he knew he wanted a career that would allow him to use those skills. He began working in consumer goods in Gillette’s Latin American group, first making his Spanish-speaking colleagues in Boston look good and then working for the company in Mexico. For as much as he was happy living in another culture and as fluent as he’d become, he found...2021-06-2827 min
Roads TakenResearch in Action: Maryam Kia-Keating on giving people voice and uncovering resilienceGuest Maryam Kia-Keating, Dartmouth ’96, was keen to help students find their voice and build supportive communities as an undergraduate advisor and area coordinator in the residence halls. And she could see a life full of this sort of work with broader populations. But with a psychology major and volunteer activities such as sexual assault peer counselor, the honor code committee, and psychiatric care work, she kept having to confront the reactive end of the spectrum of care, where things had already gone bad and helpers were having to try to make things better. She found her natural inclination, however, was...2021-06-2131 min
Roads TakenThe Music Game: Rob Hamilton on interweaving interests and playing by your own rulesGuest Rob Hamilton, Dartmouth ’96, was already a musician before entering college and knew he wanted to major in music. But he also wanted to go deeper, understanding how and why sound affects us as humans. So double-majored with cognitive science. He also found his way to the Bregman Electronic Music Studio—not widely known outside of the electronic music scene, but considered a powerhouse by students of the genre due to its development of the Synclavier the first commercially available portable digital synthesizer.Even though Rob loved writing and playing electronic music it didn’t seem that there w...2021-06-1438 min
Roads TakenPerspective Taking: Josh Marks on giving into happenstance and widening horizonsGuest Josh Marks, Dartmouth ’96, remembers his college days as being marked by a self-unawareness and a happenstance that exposed him to interesting people, interesting extra-curriculars, and interesting academic pursuits. While it made for an enriching college experience, it didn’t set him up for an obvious path after graduation.After a handful of jobs that were good enough, and one that paid that for an MBA, he was helping a friend look for a teaching job when serendipity struck again. Looking at jobs for his friend at his alma mater, the Hackley School, he saw an advertisement for a...2021-06-0731 min
Roads TakenNative Talents: Tracy Canard Goodluck on getting fired up and helping your peopleGuest Tracy Canard Goodluck, Dartmouth ’96, is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and also of Mvskoke Creek heritage and was raised as a strong Native woman in her urban communities of Utah and New Mexico. Freshman year of college illuminated how socio-economic disparities were affecting her beloved Native American communities, and the activist in her got fired up and, after a few terms away to process it all, came back to campus committed to do something about it. After a job in the Hanover After-School Program she knew education would be one route to impact and received a f...2021-05-3137 min
Roads TakenPaying Attention: Taran Lent on serving a need and having it pay offGuest Taran Lent, Dartmouth '96, knew he wanted to study engineering, even if he didn't see himself becoming an engineering. Learning how to scope a problem, build a toolkit of tactics and encyclopedia of methodologies, and solve real-world problems appealed to him. As he juggled the coursework and his role as captain of the varsity football team, he found a way to put the engineering mindset to action: He approached a slew of Hanover-area eateries—including the old favorites EBA's, Panda House, Lou's—and built a system that allowed college students to use pre-paid cards in college town eateries, somet...2021-05-1727 min
Roads TakenBefore and After: Beth Mattingly on looking at what changes and what needs to for family successGuest Beth (Jordan) Mattingly, Dartmouth ’96, had thought she wanted to be a neurosurgeon so that she could investigate how and why people ended up being different before and after some unexpected event. But when she stumbled upon the field of human geography and how one’s location can have outsized impacts on opportunities, motivations and behaviors she was hooked. Ever more interested in the more expansive questions and implications of sociology, she pursued graduate work in that field and found new ways to investigate the before and after questions that had always piqued her interest. She focused her research and...2021-05-0322 min
Roads TakenWorking Like a Dog: Liz Rawson on working through things and finding the wayGuest Liz Rawson was biologically-minded, but wasn't pre-med in college. The idea of doctoring to people just didn't appeal. Once she realized what was keeping her away wasn't the medicine part but the people part, she set her sights on veterinary school, even if she had to play catch-up a little. She got the work experience and extra training she needed in Boston to be able to apply and enrolled at Tufts. In school, she found what she didn't love (farm animals) and what she did (surgery), but had to stay scrappy to realize the dream.Her...2021-04-2629 min
Roads TakenHometown Candidate: John Barros on coming home and playing the long gameGuest John Barros journeyed to college from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston and tried to become the best version of himself by participating in numerous activities and leadership roles. He went into the business world at an insurance company right after graduation, thinking that law school could help him further hone his worldview and the best way to be of service. Service came looking for him, though, in the form of a call from home.The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a community development organization for which John had volunteered since before school, was in need of an...2021-04-1222 min
Roads TakenEnvironmental Generalist: Dave Kramer on finding connections across continents and organizationsGuest Dave Kramer stayed in Hanover after graduation to complete the teacher preparatory program and answered a classified ad to teach in Colombia. He headed to Cali with a mind to reinvent himself but anticipated honing his Spanish and having an adventure. Finding both his life mate and an appreciation for the environment there, he became a passionate advocate for not only the environment but also Colombia as a place and people. But continued unrest at the turn of the century made his wife anxious to get her gringo back home, thus beginning a recurring theme of “back to Bo...2021-04-0530 min
Roads TakenContinuity Planning: Lisana Gabriel Brown on making plans and waiting it outGuest Lisana Gabriel Brown started her career as a graphic designer but felt to constrained by how someone else thought things should look. An astute supervisor saw her technical skills and moved her into the world of IT. Though she had considered the corporate path “too buttoned up” in earlier days, she found that the corporate world—particularly banking—was the right fit and a progression of more and more technical roles led her into business continuity risk planning and disaster response.She did similar work in the health education industry, but the pace wasn’t fast enough to...2021-03-2924 min
Roads TakenA Dog's Life: Amy Peller on following joy and making your own magicGuest Amy Peller, Dartmouth '96, could always be counted on to find the fun in a moment, whether meeting people on the way to the snowboarding lessons or performing magic in the campus pub. Throughout her career in consumer marketing and brand management, she tried to always keep that sense of fun and joy.Some employers, such as Mattel (where she worked on products from water guns to Matchbox cars), made it easy. Others, who wanted her to move too far from family or deal with layoffs, not so much. Luckily, the skills she built at all of...2021-03-2228 min
Roads TakenBrain Activity: Helene Sisti on wanting to do it all and taking one thing at a timeGuest Helene Sisti has always wanted to take in every experience life offers, whether in the classroom, on a field or on stage at an Aerosmith concert. Combining her love of sport with her interest in psychology, she found her way to sports psychology. But while pursuing a masters in kinesiology, an early class in neuroscience during opened her eyes to the world of research. She continued on for a PhD in neuroscience, looking specifically at the mind-body connection and how we learn.As all-season track athlete in college, she was unable to study abroad; so she...2021-03-1525 min
Roads TakenFortuitous Stumbler: Mark Griffin on using broad thinking and following connections to find your wayGuest Mark Griffin, Dartmouth '96, had two parents in the state department so had been used to lots of moves before boarding school in Austria. The promise of mountains and persuasive literature sealed the deal for Dartmouth. He loved the intellectual freedom the college afforded and he stumbled into philosophy to round out his genetic propensity toward government. Although he knew that public service was in his blood, he worried that the typical law career might pigeon-hole him. He read about applied policy and public administration and continued on for his masters before law school.After a...2021-03-0819 min
Roads TakenMade in America: Monica Oberkofler Gorman on doing what's right and manufacturing lifeGuest Monica Oberkofler Gorman, Dartmouth '96, had been accepted at Yale Law School and had earned a scholarship to study in Oxford, but her heart lay in public service work in DC so after graduation she took the opportunity of a White House internship—ill-timed, perhaps, given her shared name with another intern at that moment. And although she loved DC, she felt that she needed to see more of how the world worked before she would feel comfortable helping to shape policy. She went to Oxford and get both a masters in politics and stayed for a PhD (tu...2021-03-0129 min
Roads TakenPolling Place: Shakari Cameron Byerly on listening to community and amplifying voicesGuest Shakari Cameron Byerly, Dartmouth '96, recognized that at her core she is someone who brings communities together, shines a light the diversity within them, and amplifies the voices so all viewpoints are heard. She did that in her youth and in college through student assembly work and with the cultural communities that she was a part. She figured that she would have a future in public interest law or public service. But a straight path to law school didn’t feel right and she served the communities that nurtured her by returning to teach high school in the Sa...2021-02-2223 min
Roads TakenModel Intelligence: Will Uppington on building skills and looking inside the modelsGuest Will Uppington, Dartmouth '96, had a desire to do good in the world, so naturally thought he would follow in his father’s footsteps into medicine. But after a few too many hospital experiences he thought there might be another way to be of service and pursued a double major in economics and government. Worried this might not give him quite enough hard skills, he spent senior year dabbling in Chinese and math and coding. Despite these new skills and yet without any role models in the business world, he still sought a surer footing and so began is...2021-02-1525 min
Roads TakenA Place to Land: Shannon Smith-Bernardin on caring for others and determining what is neededGuest Shannon Smith-Bernardin, Dartmouth '96, knew she needed to get out of Maine, as the only prospects she saw for herself there were nursing and teaching. With two duffle bags and $400 in her pocket, she landed in Los Angeles and then landed a string of jobs that didn’t feed her soul. In supporting a friend through rehab, she learned more about her own past with alcohol and co-dependent relationships that helped her reflect on how her skills and interests in helping others could be realized in a career in nursing.Ultimately, she found her place within th...2021-02-0836 min
Roads TakenPolitical Savvy: Shervyn von Hoerl on picking sides and reexamining the coreGuest Shervyn von Hoerl, Dartmouth '96, is Iranian-American and had thought as a child touched by the fallout from foreign policy decisions that he would hitch his wagon to a politician’s star and be Secretary of State one day. Participating as an operative in campaigns during high school seemed to pave the way. But after college, he felt burned out on politics in general and even questioned the point of it all.Deciding to “sell out” as he called it and make a living in New York in the world of finance, he ultimately landed a job in...2021-02-0129 min
Roads TakenSense of Agency: Gregory Papajohn on helping the disruptors and becoming oneGuest Gregory Papajohn, Dartmouth '96, had thought that Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service would be the way to live out the service ethos that he’d grown up with. But, even for a kid who lived in the shadow of Manhattan, he realized during a visit to D.C. that urban life didn’t seem to fit his idea of college. Dartmouth’s setting provided him with a groundedness that he still relies on to help him make big decisions.A government major, Gregory interned at a law firm during a leave term and went back to law a...2021-01-2533 min
Roads TakenThe Home Stretch: Matt Wiltshire on making yourself at home and making home betterGuest Matt Wiltshire, Dartmouth '96, grew up in Nashville in a family that was active in politics and in serving the community around them in a variety of ways. Ever the fiery, argumentative one, Matt went to college to study government and thought law school was in his future. Thinking he’d save a little money before law school, he followed in the shoes of senior year roommate and went into investment banking. He hadn’t intended to make it into a fifteen-year career but the idea of sticking with smart people working on interesting problems led to opportunity afte...2021-01-1821 min
Roads TakenRiver of Dreams: Darryl Knudsen on fighting the current or going with the flowGuest Darryl Knudsen, Dartmouth '96, was technically a comparative literature major in college, but one could be forgiven for thinking he was a paddling major given the amount of time he spent on the water. Unsuprisingly, he began adult life as a river guide. But when he stood on the banks at one point and realized he didn’t have the tools needed to make the impact he wanted, he took a different course.He embarked on a career in human rights and business—one he needed to forge for himself as there was little in the way of...2020-12-2833 min
Roads TakenTouching Hearts: Suzie Brown on being vulnerable and finding the right outlets for emotionGuest Suzie Brown Sax, Dartmouth '96, was part of lots of communities in college, from sports to Greek life. But she found her “people” for the first time, senior year, when she joined the female a cappella group the Rockapellas. While the group provided the creative outlet she didn’t know she needed, it also made her question her long-standing dreams to join her science skills with her interest in helping people in a life of medicine. Sage words from a summer music teacher right before she went off to medical school convinced her that she was lucky that she had...2020-12-2122 min
Roads TakenMysteries of Life: Brad Parks on reading the writing on the wall and writing what you knowGuest Brad Parks, Dartmouth '96, figured out in high school that he loved the world of sports journalism and honed his craft in college by founding The Sports Weekly. After graduation, he was on the road—literally—to a career in sportwriting, covering just about every Tiger Woods match in the golfer’s heyday and a host of other top sporting contests.Eventually stories featuring high-paid athletes became harder to write when he was seeing so many other lives worth highlighting—like those in post 9/11 New York, or Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, or everyday inner Trenton. But when he saw th...2020-08-3128 min
Roads TakenEnvironmental Focus: Fiona Danks on avoiding pigeonholes and seeking adventureGuest Fiona Danks, Dartmouth '96, thought she was going to be a doctor or veterinarian and has almost all of the pre-med credits to prove it. But she didn’t love the competitive nature of those courses and was drawn instead to geography. A happy chance of a lack of summer funding led her to Arctic science, which just happened to meld her love of biology and the physical and human sides of geography.Not wanting to be pigeonholed into one narrow field, though, she stayed away from doctoral programs—until she didn’t—and kept finding ways to...2020-08-2428 min
Roads TakenFuture of Work: Aassia Haroon Haq on noticing opportunities and making your ownGuest Aassia Haroon Haq, Dartmouth '96, always considered herself a writer and had the opportunity right after college to return home to Pakistan and begin writing international news stories that it may have taken her years to have the chance to cover in other markets. But a chance encounter with a childhood friend blossomed into romance and required a move back to the States and an investigation of how to parlay her communications experience into business opportunities. Eventually, having moved through the ranks of major consumer goods companies, a wake-up call inspired a leap into the entrepreneurial world.2020-08-1030 min
Roads TakenThe Laws of Leadership: Betsy Miller on finding the human element at the core of law and lifeGuest Betsy Miller, Dartmouth '96, left college directly for law school but had this sinking feeling she probably should have been a therapist. What she found, though, was that it just meant that she was drawn always to the human elements of the law. After years of varied work in the legal field—from accomplished litigator to law school instructor—she started asking where others in the legal profession were going to get the leadership lessons they needed to succeed and not just the “vocational training common to the field.Having returned to school herself to delve into o...2020-08-0325 min
Roads TakenIndependent Education: Jeneen DiBenedetto Graham on success metrics in schools and lifeGuest Jeneen DiBenedetto Graham, Dartmouth '96, had been intrigued by the world of Independent Schools after college and so thought she was on the right path consulting and recruiting for independent schools.But after starting to question things and wondering who she was, she left her job and moved across country as a new wife and a new mother—both earlier than she’d envisioned. Feeling a loss of her own identity, she thought of where she most felt herself. She had to look no farther than her own backyard—literally—to find the University of California, Irvine a...2020-07-1329 min
Roads TakenIntelligence Quotient: Pace Duckenfield on lifelong learning and the risk of staying stagnantGuest Pace Duckenfield, Dartmouth '96, had been pursuing a legal career in the telecom policy and regulation area—just as planned. But he also knew that he would need to make good on his commitment to the military. Instead of continuing to process security clearances—same process, different day—he decided that going active duty would help him develop more skills.Finding himself in the Middle East just after the U.S. invaded Iraq, his days were definitely anything but mundane. His work as an intelligence officer (and paratrooper) put him in contact with people from a wide v...2020-07-0624 min
Roads TakenSuperstar Activator: Michelle Villalobos on finding truth and alignment from the depthsGuest Michelle Villalobos, Dartmouth '96, was hanging with Shakira, taking the Latin lifestyle publication biz by storm, and then launching her own consulting firm. But the vida ended up being a little too loca. When she felt she hit bottom she realized she’d been listening to all the wrong voices and what looked cool and shiny on the outside didn’t really reflect the deeper truth somewhere under the surface.Uncovering her own truth, she found a path toward helping others align their own purpose and values with the lives they are meant to lead. In this ep...2020-06-2925 min
Roads TakenThrough a Creative Lens: Gabe Schlumberger on pursuing what intrigues youGuest Gabe Schlumberger, Dartmouth '96, began his post-college life without a job, but with a nagging feeling that he needed to be creating. He set his sights on animation and worked hard to land at Pixar, adding his hand to some of the company's most iconic animated features. The advent of the iPhone led him to dabble in app development and ultimately in charge of digital efforts for Disney.So how does someone leave not one but two of the most recognizable names in the the entertainment industry ultimately to help launch and run a r...2020-06-2225 min
Roads TakenLocation, Location, Location: Sarah McAlister Woelfle on non-profit burnout, Ivy League guilt, and finding your way homeGuest Sarah McAlister Woelfle, Dartmouth '96, began her post-college life as the first female team manager for the global pediatric health non-profit Operation Smile. Entrusted with the health and safety of scores of people at the age of 21 and seemingly living and breathing the work 'round the clock, she realized that—while she had gotten so much from the experience—she had given a lot, too.Recalibrating, she thought the corporate world would give her the international lifestyle she craved. But after business school, she found that the mountains in her native Colorado held an unexpected career in r...2020-06-1525 min
Roads TakenIn Our Footsteps: Drew Brady on walking with the next generationGuest Drew Brady, Dartmouth '96, had always been interested in science but learned in college that research didn't feel as immediate as medicine and, in medicine learned that surgery provided the quickest route to results.While a surprise addition to his family didn't derail his straight path through med school to practicing orthopaedics, it did add another layer of complexity. It also added another route to reconnection with his college days.In this episode, find out from Drew how a straight path to your calling can sometimes bring you full circle.…on ROADS TAKEN...with Les...2020-06-1521 min
Roads TakenPurpose over Passion: Dan Gonzalez on being industry agnostic and the problem with passionGuest Dan Gonzalez, Dartmouth '96, left college most concerned with keeping his options open. In the pursuit of breadth, he dabbled in everything from health care consulting and after-school drama programs for kids, and even considered med school. But then he heeded the oft-proffered advice to "follow your passion," realized music-making had been a source of earlier joy, and enrolled in a song-writing program at Berklee College of Music.To make ends meet, he had been tutoring at a test prep company and got hooked into an industry he'd never considered through the power of one uniquely-run co...2020-06-1523 min