Alumni News
We are thrilled about the inaugural Alumni News section of our newsletter! To kick this off, we reached out to alumni for updates, and we hope to see your submission in the future! Thank you to everyone who shared news with us. Enjoy!
From left to right: Ellen Y., Kristi F., Robin V., Rachel M., Jamili A., Hannah K., Bethany S. and Liz C.
Ellen Y.
Alumni gathered in support of Ellen Young in Cranford New Jersey for Run for Casey, a 5k run walk in honor of Ellen’s daughter Casey, who passed away from Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). All the proceeds of the event went to the SUDC Foundation. Ellen says “It was an amazing day!!!” In attendance were Onas alumni Robin V., Rachel M., Jamili A., Hannah K., Bethany S. and Liz C., Rob S., Ben V. as well as current staff members Ethan V. and Jordan Y. (Ellen’s daughter).
Ellen started at camp when she was 8 years old. She was a camper from 1981-1988. She was a staff member 1989-1995. In her last year on staff, she was a Director’s Assistant. Her daughter Jordan is on senior staff this year and her other daughter Sydney is a camper.
Maura C.
Hey Onas alums!
Greetings from the mountains of Eastern California where the Aspen trees are leafing out, the rivers are running, and it’s slowly beginning to smell of summer. Since “graduating” from the senior directing staff in 2012, I’ve spent a decade in California working in data science, first at Google and then at Patreon, and spent time outside of work enjoying the nature here by running, biking, surfing, and rock climbing as much as I can. Last fall I left my job to pursue some big adventure, first rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon for 23 days (accompanied by classic camp activities like campfire songs, shared meals outside, and trying to remember all the white water safety lessons Lee G. taught me in 2010). Then I spent 5 weeks in Peru surfing the northern coast and trekking at 16,000’ in the Andes mountains.
Maura on all her adventures!
Finally, I travelled across the Middle East and Europe for 2 months, visiting friends, riding trains, and eating amazing food. I’ve now landed back home in California and started working at Two Chairs, a mental health startup that’s aiming to make mental healthcare higher quality and more accessible — we’re currently delivering care in CA, WA, and FL, but I’m hoping we expand to PA before too long. I think of camp often, especially when I’m playing ukulele, sitting quiet in meditation, and bringing silliness and counselor energy into my day to day. It’s always great to see camp friends when I swing through PA, and would love to say hi to any Onas alums visiting California!
Onas forever!
Maura C.
Camper ’02-’05
Staff ’06-‘12
MICHELLE at the Governors Ball in NYC. Jamee is the second to the left. CREDIT: Emilio Herce
Jamee L.
Hey friends!
It's been a four years since I last worked at Camp Onas, and a lot has happened since then! In the fall of 2019, I spent a semester in Ecuador studying ecology and biology. The experience was incredibly memorable and rewarding, but I discovered that research was not my passion. Luckily, my band MICHELLE signed a record deal with Atlantic Records in the winter of 2019. During the pandemic, I completed my final years at Wesleyan University and I graduated in 2021 with a degree in Environmental Studies and Psychology.
After graduating from college, I'm a full time singer and songwriter in MICHELLE. Truthfully, I never expected to become a professional musician, but now I couldn't imagine doing anything else. MICHELLE has undoubtedly changed my life for the better. The band formed five years ago in the summer of 2018, and we've come a long way since then. In the last five years, we've released two albums and toured extensively. We've completed multiple headline tours in North America and Europe and we've opened for artists such as Arlo Parks, Gus Dapperton, and Mitski. Now, we're working on new music and rehearsing for our upcoming show at Governors Ball in NYC.
I'm hoping to visit Onas this summer, especially since my younger brother Chance will be on senior staff! I'm excited to see the ways in which Onas has evolved since I last worked there.
Onas forever!
Love,
Jamee
Dan S.
Last May, Dan graduated law school from New York University. Since then, he’s been working for the New York State government, through a program called the Excelsior Fellowship. His particular job is in a department that enforces financial regulations against banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions.
Dan at his law school graduation in 2022.
Kate W.
I started working on Kimberly Akimbo as a stage management fellow in September of 2021, back when it was Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company. It was my second job after graduating college, the first being Shakespeare in the Park's Merry Wives. After a super successful run downtown, our producers announced that we were moving to Broadway in the fall of 2022 and that everyone in the original production was coming with the show. For the Broadway Production I was promoted to an assistant stage manager and now have a more hands-on role in the running of the show, even getting to call it once a week. Now, almost 300 performances in, I can confidently say that this show is my favorite that I have ever worked on and continues to surprise me each night.
-Kate
We'd love to hear from you!
Learned or tried something new? Started grad school? Got married? Had a surprise Onas connection at school or work? Spent time catching up with Camp friends?
If you have news you’d like to share, we’d love to hear about it!
If you send in your news and photos to friends@camponas.org, we'll include them in the Spring Newsletter (with your ok, of course!)! Please use the subject line "Alumni News". Thanks, and we can’t wait to hear from you!