Fun, Games, & Learning

Young alumni enjoy opportunities to return to campus

From socials and alumni games to Intersession classes, we hosted fun and meaningful opportunities for young alumni to spend time with one another and engage in uniquely Nueva experiences from the late summer through early winter.

In August, the Class of 2022 experienced their first alumni event at our Summer Send-off. Mingling over boba and playing lawn games, the recent grads shared summer recaps along with farewells to classmates and teachers before heading off to their first year of college.

“The alumni get-together was a great way to see my classmates before I left for Rice, and it was so nice to hear last-minute advice from teachers. I definitely look forward to future alumni events!” said Anya Patel ’22, who is enjoying her first year at the Houston-based university.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving break, our inaugural alumni basketball game ushered in a new tradition, as former boys’ players from the Classes of 2012 to 2022 reunited with old teammates to scrimmage the current varsity squad in a friendly competition at the Hillsborough campus’s GCC.

“The alumni basketball game was super fun,” said Class Rep Tyler Huang ’22, who supported outreach efforts to all former players. “Getting to play against the current team and catch up with former teammates, who I haven’t seen in a while, was really enjoyable. I’m already looking forward to next year.”

For alumni who attended the lower and middle schools, it was a fun full-circle moment.

“It definitely [brought] back fond memories, especially since [we played] at the Hillsborough campus, which I called my second home for 10 years,” said Class Rep Stanley Wang ’20.

Closing out 2022, the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams welcomed back former teammates for pick-up alumni games over both the Thanksgiving and winter breaks.

During the first week of January, more than 60 members of the Classes of 2017 to 2022 kicked off 2023 by returning home for Intersession and our annual Young Alumni

Social. At Intersession, alumni supported all aspects of these events—as participants, support staff, and session facilitators.

Jason Hwong ’20 was hands-on with upper schoolers, leading three sessions: Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) for Computed Numerical Control (CNC), Modeling Dynamic Mechanical Systems, and Modeling Earth Systems.

“I was most excited about the CAM for CNC machining session as it is a topic that I’m passionate about and have worked on for the last several years,” Jason said “It was also something that I started learning while at Nueva, so it was a great experience to be able to go back and share one of my deep interests that was sparked in the I-Lab.

“The one thing that I enjoyed most about returning to Nueva as an Intersession facilitator was the energy, excitement, and deep level of engagement of Nueva students. This is something that is unique to Nueva and I found that I left with a lot of motivation to pursue my interests more deeply after facilitating these sessions.”

Intersession attendees participated in a variety of sessions specially curated for our alumni community, including a session on criminal justice reform, another about life in the front office of the Warriors, and a third about women in tech. Behind the scenes, a strong cohort of recent grads supported logistical needs and unforeseen pivots due to a severe storm hitting Northern California, which resulted in nearly two days of sessions being canceled.

Our Young Alumni Social reunited friends after their first semesters at college and others who were months into new jobs with each other and former teachers, deans, advisors, counselors, and mentors.

“It is so lovely getting to come back to Nueva through these alumni events!” said Sophie Heap ’22. “I’m always interested in catching up with both fellow classmates as well as my former teachers and seeing what they are up to. As much as both my peers and the Nueva community are growing and evolving, Nueva always feels like home when I come and visit.”

(1) Anika Sareddy ’22 and Willow Teeter ’22 at the Young Alumni Social.

(2) Thanksgiving alumni soccer game participants (l to r): Rohan K. ’26, Coby Wagonfeld ’22, Rowan T. ’23, Daniel R. ’23, Ayaan Banerjee ’22, Anuj T. 23, Sam Tateosian ’22, Ajay Tadinada ’22, Aleeha Banerjee ’20, Anya P. ’23, Claire Green ’21, and Gaelen Clayton ’21. (3) Thanksgiving alumni basketball game participants. Back row (l to r): Trevor Golob ’21, Josh Francis ’20, Sajin Patel ’22, James Tilson ’22, Amit Singh ’20, and Paul Burke ’22. Front row (l to r): Tyler McGraw ’12, Connor McGraw ’22, Stanley Wang ’20, Quetz Medina ’21, boy’s basketball head coach Mike Green, Ryan

Nueva Cup Returns

After last year’s postponement due to a severe storm, nearly 100 members of our community joined us on October 10 at Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae for the 14th annual Nueva Cup golf tournament. The event welcomes parents, students, alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends to participate in a fun-filled day on the links.

“I always look forward to the Nueva Cup! It is such a fun community event,” said Margie Mizukami, grandparent of seventh grader Kota N., who has been a regular participant of the tournament with her husband Bob Erlbeck (pictured above).