When Adam Willard ’03 emerged from high school in Bend, Ore., and prepared to enroll at Puget Sound as a pre-med major, he hated chemistry so much that he made his teacher a promise: He would never take another chemistry course that he wasn’t absolutely required to take.

A few years later, after deciding he didn’t want to go to medical school, Willard discovered that the only way he could graduate on time was by majoring in chemistry. When he took a quantum mechanics course, he realized he’d found a branch of chemistry that he actually enjoyed.

In March 2020, Julie Davidson ’96 made a pivot. A certified facilitator, coach, and consultant—and president and CEO of her own consulting company, The JD Group— Davidson started to see her contracts dry up as employees were sent home in the early days of the pandemic. So, she leaned into a hobby: kombucha brewing.

And while some of it has to do with the Loggers’ on-field success in the sport, much has to do with what happens in the classroom.

“The vast majority of the classes are smaller and are in boardroom settings—and if you didn’t come strapped in, having done the reading and willing to hold your position, you were going to get bulldozed,” says Correa, who is the bench coach for the San Francisco Giants. “And in higher-level baseball, you have a ton of meetings, discussion, and debates with really bright people, from front-office employees to coaches and players and scouts.”

William Turner ’65 first fell in love with art as a child growing up in Lakewood, Wash.

His family stopped at a restaurant on the way home from a trip to Seattle, and he was fascinated by the colorful paintings that hung on the walls. Later, he became interested in drawing.

How I came to be in Tower One of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, is a story that starts at Puget Sound. I joined a fraternity house—Beta house—and in my sophomore year, my fraternity brothers told me about a scholarship opportunity through Kemper Insurance. I ended up doing a couple summers with Kemper, and then after graduation they offered me a trainee position in Chicago. I took the job, and stayed with that same department for 25 years.

Preparing for a new baby during COVID-19 was not what Jamilia Sherls-Jones ’05 had hoped for. She wanted to touch the soft cotton of newborn onesies, turn over car seats to choose just the right one, judge—in person—which stroller, crib, and changing table were best. Instead, she was forced to do most of her baby shopping online. Many of her prenatal appointments went online, too. 

A new book by self-described "illust-writer" Hallie Bateman ’11 offers fun guidance for a mindful life.

As CEO of Oklahoma-based Sway Medical, Chase Curtiss ’06 is using new technology and his experience as an athlete to help others use their smartphones to assess neurological conditions and injuries.

If there’s anyone whose career demonstrates the value of the liberal arts, it’s Tony Gómez ’93. Today, he’s associate director of education at Tacoma Arts Live, but his career also has included being a K-12 teacher, arts administrator, percussionist, and PBS education producer.