Del Norte Diverse Sets up Alumni Network

High school is widely regarded as a difficult time; navigating classes, exploring self-identities, and becoming familiar with the outside world is a difficult transition. After these four short years, teenagers are thrust into a world of ideas and conditions that they had little way to prepare for. A group of alumni from the Del Norte class of 2016 realized they were not alone in feeling underprepared, thus the creation of Del Norte Diverse. 

Del Norte Diverse is composed of alumni, current students, and staff working towards making Del Norte an inclusive and diverse space. The group pushes students to become good citizens earlier rather than years later in college. Following the Black Lives Matter movement, COVID-19, and the resulting economic crisis, a few alumni friends had a conversation on how their education at Del Norte was very “white, cis, straight, male-dominated” with little insight on other cultures and perspectives. With this in mind, around fifty alumni got together with two main goals for Del Norte Diverse: a curriculum change and an alumni network. 

The organization is working with staff and teachers to discuss possible tweaks to the current curriculum to increase inclusivity while still teaching the necessary standards for high school students. In terms of the alumni network, the group has an idea for an online database where current Del Norte students can connect with alumni for academic, personal, and emotional support. Whether a student has a question about college, career pathways, or life experiences, alumni can provide unique insight. Three of the group’s organizers are Sahba Mobini, Brandon Papineu, and Revati Thatte, whose experiences at Del Norte prompted them to bring change to Del Norte’s culture.

Sahba Mobini is part of the UCSD class of 2020 and is now applying for a PhD in Cognitive Science. Before this, she was part of Del Norte’s class of 2016. As one of the founding members of Del Norte Diverse, she shares her reflections of her own high school experience and how college has changed her view of the world. 

Mobini states that Del Norte has “top-notch” education with staff members that teach material well. She believes that Del Norte’s overall culture is very socially inclusive. However, the biggest thing that stood out to her was the underlying message that college is a student’s one and only goal. 

Mobini shared an experience from her sophomore year at Del Norte when seniors were getting back college acceptance letters. She remembered the pressure she felt as her peers were accepted into huge universities. As teachers wrote the names of these universities on the whiteboard as a sign of pride, Mobini felt it was something she just had to achieve as well. She reflects on how terrible her mental health was during high school because there was a feeling of “getting the grade and getting out of there.”

Mobini believes that Del Norte is going in “a really great direction, with a good culture made by the students,” but she also thinks that there is potential for improvement. Mobini believes that with the alumni network and a cultural change, students can have a better high school experience and find a sense of purpose that her own experience lacked. 

As for current high school students, Mobini has some advice: “Don’t focus so much on competing with your peers. Don’t stress out, it’s not worth it. A couple of slips won’t ruin your life and they won’t determine anything long term.”

Brandon Papineu, another DNHS class of 2016 alumni, is earning his PhD at Stanford in linguistics. Papineu had a quite a different high school experience than his classmates; he was the first openly queer student in the history of Del Norte. 

“[Del Norte was] an environment to explore my queerness,” Papineu recalls. “Unfortunately, DNHS didn’t always give me that space; some of it came from the lack of inclusivity in the curriculum.” 

Papineu states that queer relationships were never represented in any of his classes. Not only did he not have any exposure to queerness, but his classmates also did not have any exposure other than him.

“[The situation was] slightly alienating,” Papineu says, “It was my burden to bear that I was the queer representation in the student body.” 

Papineu hopes that with this alumni mentorship system, Del Norte students will always have someone to ask for advice in exploring their own identities.

Papineu also moved to the UK for his last year of high school and undergraduate studies. This experience showed him that he wasn’t truly globally aware at all. 

“I couldn’t even place my friends from their different locations on a map,” Papineu says, “I didn’t know what was going on with my diverse friends’ cultures and experiences, but they could understand mine.”

Papineu wants to change this narrative of global awareness into a reality. With curriculum changes, Del Norte Diverse aims to broaden students’ perspectives so that they can understand the world around them.

Revati Thatte, a 2016 DNHS graduate, graduated from Berkley in 2020 and is now a technical writer at Rivian. When Thatte went to college, she was quick to realize how insulated 4S Ranch and San Diego really are. 

“Going to Berkeley opened my eyes to a lot of the struggles that people face on a daily basis,” Thatte says, “Classes that I took in college were much more comprehensive and exposed me to different perspectives and I had to come to terms with the fact that I had been taught everything from a one sided view.”

Thatte gives insight on examples of possible curriculum change, acknowledging that there are state standards that teachers have to cover during the school year. In terms of english class, she recommends integrating more diverse authors: more women, queer individuals, POC, and cultures from around the world. 

“Expanding students’ perspectives through reading is vital because it’s one of the few ways of interacting with the outside world,” Thatte says.

Thatte believes that, instead of feeding into a narrative in which the United States is always superior, history classes can address the fact that America is not necessarily the “best” country in the world and that thousands of cultures exist. 

Thatte also believes that sexual education needs to be more inclusive so that queer students can also access relevant education and resources. 

“Awareness needs to start a lot earlier,” Thatte says, “Hopefully, by infusing some of those ideas into high school education, it won’t be as jarring in college as it was for me.”

As Del Norte Diverse continues working for change, the group encourages Nighthawks to become future-focused and globally aware. Enjoying high school and connecting with people through Del Norte’s culture is something that the students at DND say everyone should keep in mind to graduate ready for the world beyond.