Alumni Updates

Jessica (Wegman) McLaughlin

EnglishSecondary Education, 1990

JESSICA (WEGMAN) MCLAUGHLIN, 1990 English, is married and living in Sunnyvale, Calif. She has two daughters and teaches high school English at her alma mater. She loves working with the amazing kids in the area and spends her free time at her daughters' sports and dance activities.

Josh Bartee

English, 2011

These days I'm pursuing a PhD in English Literature at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Since graduating, I have had two papers accepted for conferences. The first, which I presented in May of 2011 to the Robinson Jeffers Association in Monterey, CA, is a look at the poet’s diachronic influence on the environmental ethics of rock climbers. The second paper, presented in November of 2011 to the Western Literature Association in Lubbock, TX, concerns the hominin relationship with fire as read in Loren Eiseley's "The Angry Winter" and a selection of poems by Robinson Jeffers.

I keep busy studying, cycling and making all kinds of fun connections between poetry and natural history.

Matthew Thomas Brashears

EnglishTESOL Minor, 2007

I'm happy to report that I was recently accepted to a graduate program at The New School. I'll be working towards an MA in TESOL - a field I was introduced to and excited by when I was an undergrad at HSU.

Carol Renee Croissant White

English, 1998

Started personal business in garden/landscape consultation for Puget Sound region. Emphasizing ecological responsibility and sustainability. www.intelligentdesigngardens.com

Sylvia Anne Montgomery

EnglishGerman (double major), 1976

I am celebrating, this year, the 10th anniversary of a magazine I cofounded. BioProcess International is a peer-reviewed trade publication for 30,000+ readers in the biopharmaceutical industry. It's owned by Informa, a company based in London. I work from my small farm in Dexter, OR, where among other things, I provide a home for two or three geriatric llamas at a time.

Melissa Waldman

EnglishEmphasis in Writing Practices, 2010

I am currently writing and editing at a textbook company in San Francisco. We create K-12 grade English and Language Arts materials for larger publishing houses like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I am also a freelance food and drink correspondent for the SF Examiner Online and The Local Dish.

Robert Robinson

EnglishSingle Subject Education, 2004

I've been teaching in San Diego for seven years. I taught at a private school for two years and a public school for five. I continued graduate work in education, focusing my attention on Ethnic American Literatures, Social Justice Education, Parent Contacts, and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. I teach in the AVID program, working to increase the college enrollment of underrepresented students.

John Jamison

English, 1996

After graduation in 1996, I moved over to China for a "short" teaching stint, and I've been over here ever since. In 2001 I got my Master's in English from Iowa State. I'm now working for Intel as their Chengdu site employee communication manager and working on their China staffing online engagement strategy.

Kim T. Griswel

English, 1995

Recently moved from my position as senior editor for Highlights to the position of Developmental Editor at Portable Press in Ashland, Oregon, known for the amazing Uncle John's Bathroom Readers. I'll be developing books in the For Kids Only series.

Dr. Jana Rivers Norton

EnglishPh. D. Psychology, Saybrook Graduate School, 1991

After graduating from HSU in 1991, Dr. Rivers-Norton, taught both full time and part time at several public and private institutions of higher learning including the University of New Mexico, SUNY Alfred State College, DeVry Institute, and National University from 1991 -2011. In 2005, Dr. Rivers-Norton received a Story Fund Grant from the California Council for the Humanities to conduct and publish an oral history project entitled Told From the Heart: Stories of California's Native Women. She most recently served as the Associate Dean of Instruction at The Art Center Design College in Tucson, Arizona. Several of her academic publications can be found at Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne, Australia from 2004 - 2007. Dr. Rivers-Norton currently resides with her husband Jack in Rio Rico, Arizona and Medford, Oregon where she is working on a book of creative non-fiction entitled Memories of the Flesh.