Close Mobile Menu

Young Alumni

Robert Yu ’18 / Courtesy of Robert Yu
News

Dancing with Purpose

By Josephine Thornton

For Leadership Award Scholar Robert Yu ’18, dedication to dance and Wushu endeavors at Cal opened the doors for new opportunities and set him up for success.

Neil Arcellana (second from right) and his dance club perform a Philippine folk dance in 2022 at the University of Pacific’s 25th Pilipino Cultural Night. “Pilipino Cultural Night is an annual tradition that many colleges and high schools participate in…to celebrate and showcase Pilipino Culture and history.” / Courtesy of Neil Arcellana
News

Finding Your Story

TAAP and TLA Scholar Neil Arcellana ’24 shares his story of overcoming obstacles and hopes to advocate for other students facing similar challenges.

Elena Zhukova / Cal Alumni Association
Young Alumni

9 Ways to Keep Your Connection to Cal Golden

By Amanda Chiu

How will you stay connected to UC Berkeley after graduation?

News

Setting a Road Map to Success

Attending college can be a challenge for formerly incarcerated students. No one knows better than TAAP scholars John Lam ’23 and Michelle Maxwell ’23.

Cal Culture

Graduation at the End of the World

By Amanda Chiu

Two young alums compare notes—and find connection—around the pandemic graduation experience.

News

Sisters Create Health Initiative for Afghan Refugees

UC Berkeley students and sisters, Nazineen and Nilufar, developed a health education initiative for Afghan refugees.

News

Writer Maria Zizka Translates Haute Cuisine for the Home Cook

By Cirrus Wood

In an era when menus often double as moral statements, how refreshing it is to have Maria Zizka and her dozen joyful cookbooks out there, celebrating food without sermonizing to readers.

News

There’s No One Way To Be: How One Recent Grad Created Space for Trans and Queer Identities at Cal

Beyond academics, college is about finding yourself and becoming the person you want to be. This doesn’t happen in lecture halls, but in between classes, in student organizations, in dorms, and off-campus. For Lindsey Chung ’21, recipient of the Cal Pride Scholarship and The Leadership Award, it’s here, there, and everywhere in between.

Cal Culture

Advice for the Class of 2021: “Carry Berkeley With You”

After a long journey filled to the brim with unexpected twists and turns, the time has finally arrived for UC Berkeley’s Class of 2021 to graduate. Years of growth and transformation, beginning with the seemingly distant days of anxiously waiting for college acceptances, campus tours, and that fateful commitment to Cal, are now coming to an end under challenging circumstances that still feel unusual after all this time.

Giving Back

‘Justice for Communities of Color’: Amber Gonzales-Vargas ’15 on Inspiring Change

The November 2020 election season is not one that anyone will forget. It was an exhausting period that brought many first-time voters and more people paying attention to the voting process. Berkeley alum Amber Gonzales-Vargas ’15 was meant for this.

News

Emily Pilloton Is Opening Up the World of STEM—and Possibilities—for Girls

It’s late September, and Emily Pilloton ’03 is at Girls Garage, a nonprofit she founded in 2013 in Berkeley. Girls Garage recently reopened for small groups of girls eager to get back to the space and get building again. "I just feel like failure is not an option," she explains. "This space means a lot to the girls that come here." 

News

Who Are You Now? Maria Smith ’19 Asks Us to Look Inward

During the early weeks of the COVID pandemic, many of us hoped the pandemic would quickly pass and we could resume our lives. But Maria Smith ’19 believed this is a time to take stock of things that matter to us. This thought led her to create Who Are We Now?, a series of conversations with Cal alums that challenge us to think about how the pandemic has changed us. The first episode was released in July, and we talked with Smith about the series.