John Willenbecher, France 1954, recently reconnected with his group member Virginia (Stein) Greene. They had a great conversation remembering meals where they realized they might have eaten horse meat as opposed to beef steaks. John would love to reconnect with other group members (please email [email protected]). John also sent this picture of himself with his host sister in the vineyard at Volnay.

Mary “Maisie” (Goodale) Crowther, France 1956, recalls that after her older brother Robert Goodale’s, France 1949, experience in Bordeaux, her own family hosted a student from Germany. Influenced by these experiences, Maisie embarked on her own adventure to Lyon with group leader Robert Kline, Mexico 1949, Colombia 1950, France 1953, Group Leader France 1956. After her homestay with the Richardot family, the group traveled by bicycle along the Rhone River where they enjoyed Roman ruins and camping. Taking their bicycles onto a ferry to Corsica, they continued from Bastia to Ajaccio. Maisie continued to stay in touch with her host family. “We all seemed to have matured with the decades, had families, and yet, that early experience was the golden thread still braiding us together.”

Steven Drysdale, Mexico 1960, has actively convened reunions of his group. He happily reports that all 12 and his group leader Kelso Wessel are in touch and doing well.

Eve (Odiorne) Sullivan, Switzerland 1960, was so energized by her Experiment experience that she became co-organizer for a French group visiting her hometown the following summer. In 1991, Eve founded Parents Forum to “pay forward” the help she received in raising her own three children. Parents Forum is an award-winning non-profit and community-based organization that offers workshops teaching emotional awareness to help participants improve their communication skills. Last fall, Eve traveled to Paris to attend a meeting of the International Federation for Parent Education. She was able to meet Parents Form team members that she had only previously met on Zoom and WhatsApp.

Sarabeth Friedman, Norway 1964, was a nurse-midwife for more than 45 years. She is now working in global health, going to low-resource countries and teaching local midwives how to save babies and mothers’ lives through simple interventions. She writes, “The Experiment started me off on my traveling, and I am forever grateful to have had that experience as a teenager!”

Lenneal Henderson, Italy 1965, says he was deeply influenced by his Experiment experience. After earning several degrees in political science, he joined the faculty of Howard University. He became involved with a U.S. Department of State speaker series program and traveled around the world to speak about federalism. He taught at the University of Baltimore for 25 years and today is adjunct professor at William & Mary and a senior fellow and eminent scholar at Virginia State University. For several decades, Lenneal has done briefings on federalism for World Learning’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Read The Experiment Launches a global career that connects World Learning’s IVLP to HBCUs for more about Lenneal’s fascinating story. He is still in touch with his Italian host family.

Danette (Brady) Jolly, Sweden 1967, reports that after her experience, her Swedish host sister spent the summer with her in California. Danette studied Swedish in college, and she and her husband later hosted three sets of exchange students. Danette has reunited with her host sister multiple times and is currently planning a visit with her this spring in Spain.

Rich Kurtzman, Group Leader Spain 1999 and 2001, has started his own study abroad company in Barcelona and published a book for students studying abroad. He acknowledges and thanks The Experiment for what he learned during the leader training workshops in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Ashley Townes, Experiment Group Leader Japan 2010 and SIT MA in International Education 2011, is the 2022-2023 Washington Sea Grant Keystone Fellow. She is spending the year working with the maritime habitat team at the Port of Seattle, advancing the development and implementation of innovative habitat restoration projects including kelp research, floating wetland islands, and blue carbon monitoring. Additionally, she will investigate ways to strengthen the linkage between habitat restoration, stewardship, community engagement, and equity. She is completing her doctorate in fisheries ecology at University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. She continues to design and implement high-impact community-based environmental projects and best cross-cultural practices in natural resource management, especially as related to Black and Indigenous populations, people of color, and ethnic minority groups.

Adem Oumedour, The Experiment Digital 2020, is a second-year student at Higher School of Management and Digital Economy and brand designer at Geometric Algeria where he oversees brand creation and development for clients. Prior, he was a freelance graphic designer and worked with national brands and small businesses. Adem is one of 14 recipients of the inaugural Stevens Initiative Alumni Fellowship which helps alumni develop as global leaders, intercultural communicators, and cross-cultural collaborators while forming long-lasting relationships with their peers.