By Teresa Fang / October 23, 2023
For three days in October, Unicorns from all over the nation and world galloped to NCSSM in Durham. Nostalgia filled Bryan lobby as more than 470 NCSSM alumni returned for Alumni Weekend 2023.
Alumni Weekend is a tradition with 41 years in the running – nearly half a century of connecting Unicorns thanks to the generosity of alumni and the up-to-the-minute NCSSM alumni network. The event plans had been in the works since last year, and thanks to the Alumni Weekend 2023 ReUNIon Committee, Team NCSSM, and the NCSSM Alumni Association, the classes of 1983,’88, ‘93, ‘98, ‘02, ‘08, ‘13, and ‘18 enjoyed a “State of the School” remark, Alumni Awards, class activities and photo slideshows, and student-led campus tours.
Around the World, In the Network
When seniors graduate, they get automatically added to the NCSSM Alumni Network, which currently consists of 12,464 alumni (as of this article’s publication).
“It’s something that we have here that I think makes us truly special. Any school could have a database, but it’s hard to have the discipline and the persistence to do it over time,” said Brock Winslow, ‘86, the vice chancellor for external relations and chief of staff since 2007. The database traces back to the first graduated class of 1982.
While the Alumni Association’s Alumni Network is a self-updating network, the contact information is ultimately gathered to organize the Alumni Weekend. The event started on Friday with a Zoom meeting where more than 300 people would join from around the world.
“Literally, you could see people log in from Singapore. Around the world, you just name it.” Winslow said. “When alumni go to our Facebook page, they can watch this, see the [ReUNIon Committee] officers, get the ‘State of the School’ address, and more.” According to the Alumni Association, about 20 percent of all NCSSM alumni attend the meeting or watch its recording.
“What I loved the most? I think it was the community of nerds.”
When a student starts their “flight” at NCSSM, they join hundreds of students like them but are from all areas of North Carolina. Regardless of whether it was connecting with the students and teachers, or taking in the advantages and opportunities, alumni owe their post-high-school lives to their alma mater.
“Being here definitely grew my network, and helped me grow into myself as a person,” said Maya Mims, ‘18, who is now a math teacher in Washington, D.C. Surprisingly, prior to NCSSM, they hated math. Their classmates and teachers, especially Dr. Dan Teague, helped turn that attitude around. “They definitely helped spark a lot of my love for teaching, math, and academia, so that’s why I’m teaching now.”
Other alumni made lifelong friends and memories. On Alumni Weekend, many current students noted there were many couples and families present. For example, although Gabriel “Gabe” Whaley and Amy Kim, both ‘08, never dated in high school, they recently got married.
Whaley, the class of 2008 student body president, is now the CEO and founder of MSCHF, a viral art collective. Despite his laments over the amount of work to do as a president, Whaley enjoyed having fun and connecting with the people at NCSSM, especially his cabinet.
“What I loved the most? I think it was the community of nerds. I felt like this was a great place to be myself and grow, other than doing things I should have gotten in trouble for…” He said, keeping his detailed mischiefs off the record. Behind him, his vice president Andrew Ngo quipped that one such deed included copying master keys and distributing them to seniors.
For Catherine Kirby Dunleavy, ‘88, she treasured her friendships: “I always felt like [NCSSM] was just the most accepting place I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
At the time of the interview, she was walking with a group of same-class alumni, the oldest friendship of which was with David Steinmiller, ‘88, when the two met while Dunleavy was reading a magazine in the ETC courtyard before the first day of school.
“We were just looking at the [alumni class] slideshows, and I remembered all the activities and cultural stuff we did, not just math and science,” Steinmiller said. “I don’t think you could recreate this like in fancy private schools, because those people aren’t drawn there. NCSSM are the dorks of North Carolina – and that’s the best thing. There’s nothing quite like this, really.”
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