Yountville’s young, rising star
Alina Ceja-Delgado of Yountville has long stood out among her peers. Goal-oriented and a team player, she set her sights early on being one of the speakers at her graduation from Napa High School last month.
It was a natural and fitting goal achieved, she explained. “I have known since my freshman year of high school that I wanted to be a speaker. I spoke at my elementary school promotion and then at my middle school promotion, and I just felt like I’ve always loved public speaking. It’s come naturally to me.”
As a participant in the Leadership Program at Napa High for three years, Ceja-Delgado learned about connecting with her peers and community building. Following three rounds of auditions, the final four speakers were selected. “It only felt like right to do a speech, and I felt like I had something to say.”
When speaking to her classmates, this third-generation Napa Valley resident painted a visual garden with her words. “The metaphor was supposed to be that you are made up of a variety of elements, and you are the product of the environment that you’ve grown up with, and your family, and just so many things that have that you’ve been through, in your past, over years of education,” she recalled.
“I also thought it was good to use a garden metaphor because the Napa Valley is so green, and I feel like, as a kid, you know, you’re grounded and connected to the earth. It almost brings that nostalgic feeling, especially for me. I’m really proud of my heritage, my skin. I feel like roots and gardens remind me so much of our family home back in Mexico. It started as a metaphor, but tied all of that in, and I was able to get that point across.”
Ceja-Delgado’s roots in Yountville run deep. She is the daughter of Monica Delgado and Jerardo Ceja of Yountville. Along with her parents and two sisters, she was raised in the same family home where her mother grew up in Yountville. Her mother and siblings, her four aunts, graduated from Yountville Elementary School.
While in high school, Ceja-Delgado was also elected student body president, was a three-year color guard, a majorette her senior year and played an integral role as four-year varsity badminton player and three-year varsity badminton team captain.
While contributing her leadership skills to sports, this spring the 2025 Napa High badminton team made history winning the league championship, marking the first time for the school to win in this sport. Head Coach Chelsea Pascual commented that Ceja Delgado has “truly been an amazing student athlete to have on the team, as she helps out and cares deeply for her teammates, coaches and the program. She is such a great role model and person for our team to look up to.”
Napa High’s assistant badminton coach, Cynthia Kapjian, added, “More than her athletic accomplishments, her character and leadership were more inspirational. I have said countless of times that she was the heart of the team because of her commitment and passion to create a welcoming and supportive, but competitive environment.”
Ceja-Delgado was undefeated as a singles badminton player but was committed to both academic and athletic pursuits. Her mother said, “Alina was the president of the California Student Federation in which she was involved for four years. She maintained an average 4.25 GPA in high school, finishing her senior year with a 4.5. Received an academic excellence award for passing more than three advanced placement exams.”
A graduate of the Napa Valley Language Academy, she entered the dual language immersion program and earned a Seal of Biliteracy from the International Spanish Language (ISL) Academy, also serving as president of Napa High’s ISL Club.
In addition, she was the advisory council representative for the Napa Valley Unified School District and was an ambassador for the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Program.
This summer, Ceja-Delgado is working at the Teacher Resource Center of the North Bay in Napa. The non-profit ensures that local teachers have classroom supplies they need free of charge so that every student has the tools to succeed.
Simultaneously, she is preparing to leave for college at the end of August. Ceja-Delgado will attend the University of California at Berkeley and major in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on political science and public policy and minor in Chicano Studies.
While she recalls that the college application process was stressful, she credits the support of her parents and sisters, as well as her badminton coaches. “UC Berkeley was actually always my dream school because my mom went and so did my godmother. And I grew up visiting the campus a lot. I love the culture and the community.”
As she prepares to go to college, she says that she is most excited to meet people, experience the new environment and cannot wait for the university classes.
She remembers that there were not many people her age living in Yountville when she grew up, and most of the town was focused upon tourists rather than children, which made her feel like she stuck out. So along with her sisters they frequented the town parks and spent a lot of time outdoors.
“I loved skateboarding around town or going on walks with my mom. I spent so much time at that park because, I mean, that was the closest thing. You know, I played a lot of sports with my sisters. We had to find a way to entertain ourselves. So, I just love being outside, especially because Yountville is so safe. My parents didn’t really have to worry about letting us go out alone because absolutely everything is withing walking distance.”
As she has gotten older, she says she has learned to appreciate some things about her hometown, and she is beginning to realize that she really did come from a small town.
“You know, Napa is beautiful. But one of the biggest things my sister told me that’s so different about college is just how small (Napa) seems once you’re away.”
