A Chat with Leah Dion
By Elizabeth DuMont-McCaffrey
Leah and I had the chance to catch up on a phone interview. As soon as we began our chat, memories flooded back to me from our first year together in 1837 Hall. It’s amazing to think that we started our time at MHC seven whole years ago. Since our graduation in 2010, Leah has accomplished quite a bit!
Directly after Mount Holyoke, Leah went on to get her Masters in biomedical sciences at Midwestern University near Chicago. She then moved to Marlborough, MA where she now lives and works as a biocompatibility scientist at Boston Scientific. Basically, Leah assesses medical devices for any potential hazards which means she’s responsible for the safety of medical devices used across the globe. She loves the fact that she learns new things at work every day and gets to utilize a lot of knowledge she obtained at MHC.
“Oh my God, everything,” was Leah’s response when I asked her what she missed about Mount Holyoke. She loved having so many amazing women all on one campus and finds it challenging to keep up with all of her friends. She loved her coursework and specifically mentioned The Brain/Mind, a class taught by Professor Joseph Cohen. Leah thought this course perfectly combined her love of biology and interest in psychology—her major and minor at Mount Holyoke.
Leah is currently reading the World According to Garp by John Irving. Her friend and fellow Moho, Becca Gauthier who now attends Harvard Law School, recommended the book but so far it is a bit boring and Leah hasn’t really gotten into it. She describes what she is watching lately as “the trashiest, most terrible TV.” It’s not that bad though. She loves Modern Family.
When I asked Leah if any information was missing from our interview, her sassy reply was, “well, I am dating someone.” She is dating Jeremiah, a UMASS Amherst graduate and engineer in Shrewsbury, MA. Recently they took a walk down memory lane: Leah showed Jeremiah around MHC and Jeremiah gave Leah a tour of his life at UMASS. They also visited a Korean restaurant in Hadley that happened to be both of their favorite when they were in school.
It’s unfortunate that our conversation was just a phone call. But, since Leah is based in MA, she has no excuse to miss our 5-year Reunion, which is closer than you think. I look forward to actually catching up with her then and reconnecting with my entire first year crew from 1837.
