Notes from the Class of 2022

2018 Olympic bronze medalist, five-time X Games medalist and 2013 FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Champion Arielle Gold (PreMed, Psych’22) has announced her retirement from competitive halfpipe snowboarding. The retirement comes after nine years on the U.S.Snowboard Pro Halfpipe Team. She now works in a local veterinary emergency room and is excited to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine in the fall.

Artist Amy Hoagland (MArt’22) received a $10,000 fellowship grant from the Windgate Foundation for her work with sustainability through art. Amy couples traditional materials with new technology to create her art. “I seek to create new ways of seeing and conversing about our position within nature,” said Amy.

Musician and engineer Dafna Margalit (ElCompEngr’22) has been playing her original music for numerous years in and around the Boulder scene. During her time at Fairview High School, she would take any opportunity to perform, including school events, the competitive BVSD Battle of the Bands JamFest and eTown Hall’s 2016 Handmade Song Contest. Since then, Dafna has worked to open and headline shows at the Boulder Theatre, Fox Theatre and Larimer Lounge in Denver. Her bedroom-pop sound has racked up millions of streams across platforms since her first release in 2019. In addition to playing music, Dafna works as a software engineer at Rival Games.

Recent graduate Carlie Charp (TAM’22) published her first children's book, Here Comes Ralphie, a story about a young buffalo who dreams of becoming the next face of Colorado. Her book is written to empower children and motivate them to work hard and take chances — even if the odds are stacked against them.

On May 11, Rita Garson (DistSt’22) participated in CU Boulder’s spring commencement ceremony, which honored more than 9,500 students. Rita, who is 76 years old, was recognized as the university’s second-oldest graduate. She started her college career in the late 1960s, then took time off to raise her family and run a medical publishing business. She took classes on and off throughout the 2000s and worked with CU’s Continuing Education division to come up with a plan to finally obtain her degree. “Don’t give up. Finish it. Decide why it’s important to you, and then apply yourself,” she told CU Boulder Today this spring. “I did it for me … and I wanted my grandkids to be proud of me.”

Cynthia Lim (Comp Sci’22) graduated from CU Boulder in December at the age of 17 with magna cum laude distinction. After graduating, she explored 10 countries within Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe. She started college as a freshman at age 15 after graduating high school with her associate’s degree. At the age of 16, she took her first job as a software intern at Intel, where she worked for a year. She then interned at Apple this past summer as a software engineer in Austin, Texas. Now that she’s done traveling, she’s joined consulting firm McKinsey & Company as a business analyst.

The most memorable part of Wes Weber’s (Mgmt, Mktg’22; MBus’23) time at CU was his involvement with the Ralphie Handler program. He came to CU to be a part of the team after seeing her run for the first time at a Buffs game with his dad when he was 10. For home football games, the handlers lead Ralphie onto Folsom Field and run her in a half circle across the field before the game starts and during halftime. Ralphie Handlers also help with the buffalo’s day-to-day care. Wes stayed at CU an extra year to continue his participation on the team and was one of the only graduate students to serve as a handler.

Ryan Burbary (Acct, Fin’22) is owner of Velociti Tennis, a company that has developed the world’s first completely biodegradable and synthetic tennis string. Ryan also helps produce eco-friendly versions of tennis grips and other accessories. Velociti was founded in Boulder.