Seton Hall Prep’s Young Alumni Day, which occurs every year in January, is a day of connection and getting together that the teachers, current students, and most importantly, alumni look forward to. It is a chance for The Prep’s young alumni to visit their high school friends, teachers, and any faculty that shaped them throughout their four years here. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Prep faculty Mr. Nesto ’12 and Mr. Boyle about this special event and its goals.

Mr. Boyle serves as the Director of Advancement, and his job for Young Alumni Day is to talk with folks, let them know what is happening within the school, and serve as a support mechanism for Mr. Nesto, Director of Alumni Relations. Mr. Nesto works with Mrs. Sgaramella to get the date for Young Alumni Day and reaches out to the alumni, letting them know to stop by and meet their former teachers and old friends. I asked both about the goal of Young Alumni Day. Mr. Boyle spoke about how Young Alumni Day serves to take care of the students after they graduate, and it is all about keeping the brotherhood together. Additionally, he explained how this year, there was a new addition in having older alumni come in to offer internship opportunities to the younger alumni in college. Mr. Boyle sincerely hopes this will continue.

In addition, Mr. Nesto spoke about the excitement of seeing who comes back, of how the alumni interact with the teachers, and the school day feeling more relaxed and fun makes this day special. For example, Mr. Nesto had Mr. Siedler twice as a teacher throughout high school, and Mr. Siedler had given nicknames to all his students. At Alumni Day, former students of Mr. Siedler would ask each other, “What’s your nickname?” Mr. Nesto said this simple act made Alumni Day memorable for him. Similarly, Mr. Boyle said that seeing the Alumni reconnect with teachers and classmates and watching young alumni talk with older alumni about job and career opportunities is wonderful.

Mr. Boyle hopes to grow Alumni Day by increasing the number of student attendees to approximately 150 people and encouraging older alumni to return to strengthen connections across classes. In addition, he suggests adding panel discussions so that alumni can share their careers and experiences as well as a more relaxed and lighter event for everyone. Mr. Nesto would like to see a greater number of alumni attend, which includes older alumni, and to expand the career networking component. More specifically, Mr. Nesto would like to add a Q&A panel session or a Kahoot that would quiz the graduates on topics relating to SHP and test them on their memory! Furthermore, Mr. Nesto values feedback from alumni and attendees to see what events they did or did not enjoy so that he can make improvements.

I asked both to share anything else they would like our students to know about Young Alumni Day. Mr. Nesto encourages all college students, freshmen to seniors, to come back for events like these and emphasizes that alumni interaction is not just about donations but rather reconnecting with the school and the people within it. Overall, his message is that the relationship with SHP does not end after graduation, but that it’s only the beginning. Once a student becomes an alum, the Office of Alumni Relations has lots of things to give to them that could help them in their careers. It’s all about building a network.

Both Mr. Boyle and Mr. Nesto provided valuable information on Young Alumni Day. In my opinion, the most important takeaway from our conversations was that after leaving 120 Northfield Ave and heading to college, the connection to this school is not broken. SHP men are always a part of this strong community of alumni.