Meet New Village School Alumni - QUINN KOSTER, Class of 2019
Oct 17, 2024 | by Amy Novesky
QUINN KOSTER ~ Class of 2019
“My experiences at NVS had a profound influence on how I choose to live my life and approach the world—and for that, I am immensely grateful.”
Quinn Koster, a student in the inaugural kindergarten class at the New Village School, attended Tamalpais High School and is currently a sophomore at UC Santa Barbara, where he is studying computer science (CS) at the College of Engineering. (Other NVS alumni attending UCSB include Lukas Plotts, Theo Prestwich-Rudick, Aurelia Jo and Sunny Vernon).
Quinn is interested in many fields that involve CS, but he is currently most drawn to artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as projects involving complex algorithms. He hopes to engage with these types of challenges in his future career.
When Quinn is not studying computer programming in school, he is practicing it at home.
“I am currently working on a personal project that modifies a popular game and utilizes algorithmic searches (and possibly data science and web scraping in the future, as I expand it). I enjoy the project significantly—it has allowed me not only to apply the things I’ve learned in school but also to work with a game that shaped much of my childhood and adolescence.”
When not programming, Quinn is plotting …meals.
“I suppose my secondary hobby at the moment is eating. This past year, I have become somewhat of a serious foodie. I love trying new meals, comparing restaurants, and anything that involves Mission burritos.”
It’s possible Quinn’s love of seeking out culturally diverse cuisine was inspired by traveling the world as an NVS student, the source of many of his favorite school memories.
“Looking back, it’s incredible how much of the world we explored, and at such a young age. While I’m very grateful for every travel experience I had, I also believe if I could experience the same trips now—having grown up and developed an even greater appreciation for the Earth, its cultures, and its history—I would savor my time abroad even more.”
Although Quinn is happy to have moved on to experience different schools and ways of living, there are plenty of things he misses about NVS besides his travel experiences.
“I miss the school’s diverse and charmingly eccentric teaching staff. I miss the many creative endeavors, such as the classic 3rd-grade shelter project, the handwork and woodwork, and the transformative, yearlong 8th-grade project. I also miss the incredibly unique, talented, refreshing, and grounded student body. The list goes on.
My experiences at NVS had a profound influence on how I choose to live my life and approach the world—and for that, I am immensely grateful.”
Below, Quinn shares a few ways in which the school has had the most significant impact on his life:
“NVS taught me to pursue creativity, both directly through the creation of various art forms (music, drawing, painting, handwork, woodwork, and more) and in all other aspects of the human experience that allow for creative thinking.
NVS prepared me to care about the world. It taught me to care about politics and climate change—not just because they interest me, but because educating and involving myself in these areas is my inherent responsibility as a citizen of the U.S. (and a human, for that matter).
NVS taught me to love learning, whether it be in the classroom or out in the world through observation and interaction with humans and other living beings.”