CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2023 | 71 Skyler McCabe, skylermccabe1@gmail.com Olivia Abrams has recently launched a new product with her father, Steve, called TiCK MiTT. TiCK MiTT is your first line of defense in tick-protection, giving you control over your health and confidence that you’ve done your best to protect your family and your pets from tick-borne illnesses. Olivia was diagnosed at 9 years old with Lyme disease after spending time in upstate New York. Lyme can have many different symptoms, but for Olivia it manifested as arthritis in her knee. She has memories of missing firstgrade classes because it was painful for her to walk. Olivia and her father have always had big dogs and, back in 2018, discovered a material that removed ticks from their clothes and pets’ fur. For years, they worked with a tick scientist and product engineer to perfect their design. In spring 2021, Olivia took her final class for her entrepreneurship minor at Lehigh with Professor Josh Ehrig, and with help from her mentor, Innovator-in-Residence Chris Kauzmann, she focused on how to launch TiCK MiTT. After a couple of years working in finance, Olivia and her dad finally launched TiCK MiTT to the world in February 2023 with the mission of reducing the cases of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. TiCK MiTTs are available to order at tick-mitt. com. Follow their social media accounts @tick.mitt. ’22 Clare Fonstein, clf222@alum. lehigh.edu It has been about a year since the Class of 2022 walked the stage at Goodman Stadium, threw our caps and became alumni. Some peers have stayed at Lehigh to earn their master’s, some have joined the workforce, and some have gone to other institutions to pursue further education. A special congrats to those finishing up their fifth year at Lehigh! Personally, it simultaneously feels like no time at all has passed since graduation and I have also lived multiple lives in the past year. For our peer Peter Luba, the past year has been full speed ahead in launching his own company. Peter graduated early from Lehigh in December of 2021, and since then, he has spent time traveling and starting a job in San Francisco. He recently switched to focusing full time on his start-up, Smart Pass. This global company digitizes hall passes for students, so teachers and administrators can track when and how often students are signing out of class. Peter started the company in his senior year of high school with a friend and worked on it throughout college. In February of 2023, he left his job as an associate product manager at Salesforce to devote more time and effort to Smart Pass. He said he loved working at Salesforce, but being able to help Smart Pass realize its full potential has been awesome. Peter and the co-founder are currently working to grow the company and add more people to their team of 20. Best of luck to Peter! I am very excited to see where the company goes. Please reach out with any Class of 2022 news you would like to share! I can be reached at clf222@alum. lehigh.edu. ’23 Connor Melko, connormelko1@ gmail.com Hello, all! As our time is coming to a close in south Bethlehem, I wanted to report some of the great things that my class has accomplished or will be pursuing after graduation this May. Elena Perez-Segnini will be working at IBM as a marketing professional in New York City and is excited to apply what she has learned in her past academic and internship background, while also continuing to learn and grow those marketing skills. Tobey Bill was named to the 2023 Poets & Quants Best and Brightest Business Major List, which highlights 100 of the best undergraduate business students around the country. The integrated business and engineering student will be working as an associate consultant for Bain & Company in its New York City office and attributes important business relationships to his success. In the future, he would like to start his own business in the environmental space, so be on the lookout for a successful company founded by Tobey. Related to the environment, Brandtson Duffie is set to graduate with his bachelor’s in earth and environmental science and will be staying at Lehigh for his master’s in education. Madison Zaun will be enrolling in the doctor of physical therapy program at Duke University and is looking forward to watching the storied basketball team. Joining Madison in Durham is Sarah Bonthuis, who will be playing field hockey for the Blue Devils while enrolled in the prestigious Fuqua School of Business. Another graduating senior competing under new team colors next fall is Kerem Ayhan, who will be running track at Northeastern University while earning his certificate in construction management. These past four years at Lehigh went by extremely quickly but were some of the most enjoyable and transformative of my life. The relationships I made here will stick with me for a very long time, and I am looking forward to keeping track of the Class of 2023’s achievements. Feel free to keep in contact with me at connormelko1@gmail.com. ’24 Samantha Gropper, shg224@ lehigh.edu Hello, Lehigh! It’s crazy to believe that the Class of 2024 is already finishing our third year at Lehigh. Reflecting back, I’ve seen so many of my classmates accomplish so much despite obstacles and difficulties. I wanted to take a moment to highlight Abby Sowa and Mary Bartiromo, who have taken advantage of so many opportunities at Lehigh and transferred those skills beyond the classroom walls. Abby and Mary exemplify the determination and leadership abilities of the Class of 2024. Abby Sowa leads an interesting and exciting life. A typical day for Abby begins around six in the morning when she wakes up and runs four miles. Followed by a quick workout, shower and protein shake, Abby heads to the library to study and get her work done before her first class of the day. She then squeezes in lunch before her second class in the afternoon. After school, she studies until dinner and then hangs out with her friends at night. As a finance and accounting double major, Abby still finds time to prioritize herself and the things she enjoys. Abby also serves as the president of her sorority, Kappa Delta, and a member of the Thompson International Portfolio. Although she is in the College of Business at Lehigh, her favorite class she has taken so far is Bollywood Dance. Abby says learning new dances and performing them for her friends at the final recital at the end of the semester was a highlight of her Lehigh experience. She credits Lehigh for opening up so many opportunities to learn both in and out of
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