Many thanks to the hundreds of alumni who returned to Menlo for reunion on October 20! Scott Taylor ’73, Jade Gosse Lewis ’98, Adam Haley ’03, Kevin Platshon ’03, Elise Ponce ’08, and Michael Harris ’08 were inducted into the Menlo Athletic Hall of Fame, the Class of 1968 celebrated their 50-year reunion with a dinner in Spieker Ballroom, and many other alumni and friends gathered on campus to reminisce and reconnect. See pictures from the event in our online photo album. We’re already looking forward to next year’s party for alumni whose years end in 4s and 9s, and hope you’ll plan on coming home to Menlo!

The 2018 edition of Menlo’s ShredX speaker series featured Chris Clark ’93, Nick Woodman ’93, Danielle Rees ’95, Michael Schwab ’94, Desi Banatao ’94, and Rey Banatao ’91 (pictured above, left to right, with student moderators) coming together for a panel during Upper School assembly on November 6, 2018, to talk about their experiences with various aspects of the action sports industry. A recurring theme from the panel: Work through your fear of failure. READ THE FULL STORY

David Chan ’97 recently relocated back to the Bay Area after almost a decade in New York. He’s currently working at Tesla as a senior designer and is expecting a baby boy with his wife in December.

Natalie Haas ’01 (pictured above, on the left) returned to Menlo and visited Mr. Leo Kitajima’s orchestra class alongside longtime collaborator Alasdair Fraser (above, on the right). Together, Natalie and Alasdair have won acclaim as a cello-and-fiddle duo known for their original compositions and arrangements that blend traditional Scottish music with jazz, Celtic, bluegrass, and folk influences. During the visit, they performed for the class and invited students to join in and play several pieces that Natalie had arranged just for the ensemble. They also shared insights about their careers as artists, their musical journeys, and how they approach performing. “I was in the chamber orchestra for my first year [at Menlo],” Natalie said, adding, “I also played in the pit for a lot of theater shows and loved every minute of what I got to do in the music department here.”

Samantha Bergeson ’13 is an editorial features intern at Marie Claire. She’s published stories in multiple publications, and recently reported for Marie Claire’s web site a story about advice female CEOs shared with other women.

Natalia Rivas ’13 directed and produced the short film, The Escape, which was selected by the Chelsea Film Festival to screen as part of its Short Film Series in October.

Lauren Chan ’17, now a student at Yale University, wrote for the Yale Daily News about her multifaceted identity and how that plays out in a place that aims to honor students’ various identities, but still falls short of making a multiracial person like her feel fully included.

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