Anisha Kumar ’22 Earns National Recognition

This fall, the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) named Anisha Kumar ’22 one of eight finalists for Cartoon of the Year. Two of Anisha’s comic strips were named as finalists, and on November 12, “Wordle Hurdle” earned a second-place finish in the national competition.

“Honestly, I had completely forgotten that we had even submitted the comics to the NSPA until I randomly suddenly remembered and checked the website,” Anisha said. “I was shocked to be chosen as a finalist, and to realize that my name was the only one that showed up twice! I started making comics in my seventh grade English class at Nueva when we were reading Julius Caesar—there were so many moments I could dissect and turn into comics to understand them better. My teachers were Katie Saylor and Colin Tribble at the time and they encouraged me to keep making them!

“My eighth grade recital project was creating a comic book, too. I started making comics for the Current in 12th grade, and I had so much fun making them, but I never would’ve imagined my cheesy little comics getting recognized like this!” meals in Los Angeles. ¶ In summer 2022, he served as the media director for USC’s Chinese American Student Association. Jordan continues to seek opportunities to pursue his passions for graphic design and communications, sparked by his experience as Nueva’s communications intern and The Nueva Current’s design editor. ¶ A member of Koleinu, Princeton University’s Jewish a cappella group, Eleanor Monroe and the group were selected to perform at the White House for the December 18 Holiday Open House. After learning in October that the White House was looking for music groups to perform during the winter season, Koleinu’s business manager connected with the Jewish liaison to the White House. The group then submitted portfolio samples and information about the group. “We were fortunate enough to be selected!” said Eleanor, a second-year religion major. ¶ As a Morehead-Cain (MC) scholar at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Willow Taylor Chiang Yang has embarked upon a number of new experiences. The day after her Nueva graduation, she attended MC’s multiweek Outdoor Leadership course, spending 22 days in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, canoeing and portaging 8–12 miles each day. ¶ Willow is currently majoring in a self-designed course of study she is calling “American Political Economy and Society,” and is pursuing minors in PPE (philosophy, politics, and economics) and physics. After obtaining grant funding from MC, Willow spent her 2022 spring break in Washington, D.C. researching officerinvolved domestic violence, and her summer in Baltimore, MD crafting a 76-page research report on the state of permitting and public grant making in the city. She was also hired by her history and global studies professor to assist in running a global history talk series that has featured, among others, the ambassador from Belgium; she is currently working on beginning a shortened, podcast version of the series to Spotify. In addition, Willow continues to play volleyball on the competitive club team at UNC and is currently the treasurer for the team.

Anisha is a first-year student at Brown University and has joined a South Asian students’ a cappella group and is on staff at The Brown Daily Herald, the school’s student newspaper.

David Chan, an electrical and computer engineering major at Carnegie Mellon University, spent his first semester working with Carnegie Mellon Racing, helping build electronics systems for CMU’s electric race car team. Additionally, he has volunteered for Project Ignite, an organization introducing technical topics to Pittsburgh high schoolers such as robotics and bioengineering. Outside of classes and clubs, he also enjoys going to Pittsburgh Pirates games with friends, even if they aren’t the SF Giants. ¶ Avery Chen had a great first semester at the University of Pennsylvania. She is in the Agribusiness Club and Energy Group doing consulting work, getting hands-on experience learning and working with real clients. ¶ “The transition to college has definitely been a lot, so it was super comforting to see familiar faces and exchange stories about our first semesters!” Avery said of a recent #NuevaNosh gathering in Philadelphia. ¶ Tyler Huang is a first-year triple major in linguistics, economics, and mathematics at Northwestern University. Over the fall, he got involved in several school activities and clubs, and as a member of our Nueva Class Reps team, he has stayed closely connected to fellow alumni and enjoyed helping organize and attend various events. ¶ “College has been a huge, but fun transition after 13 years at Nueva,” he said. “I’m excited to come back to Nueva for more alumni events this year!” ¶ Powell Mathewson is enjoying his first year at Pitzer College and the opportunity to get involved with clubs and activities. He is a member of the Powerlifting Club, the Alexander Hamilton Society, and the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. He also runs an e-commerce business with a fellow Nuevan, producing beats for artists and bands at the Claremont Colleges. ¶ “I’m surrounded by people who are both interpersonally kind and easy to be around, but deeply curious and caring,” he said.

“I’ve developed relationships with a lot of my professors, which was much easier than I expected, because apparently nobody comes to office hours in college. The 5Cs (Claremont College consortium) definitely feel more like one large school than five small ones, which is very nice. I have the resources and community of a liberal arts college, with a large-enough campus that it doesn’t feel isolated. I miss a lot of things about Nueva, but I’m very grateful that because of my high school experience I feel comfortable here.” ¶ Over his first semester at the University of Pennsylvania, Humza Rabbani joined two technology consulting clubs, is a member of the club squash team, and is appreciative of the good friends he’s made and how much the school has to offer. ¶ Computer science and mathematics major, Theo Rode spent his first semester at Harvey Mudd College volunteering at Homework Hotline, a national free over-the-phone math and science tutoring service for students in grades four through 12. Along with his volunteer role, Theo enjoys helping classmates