a-vaishali

My High School Years

http://animoto.com/play/ysf8xHEQQkyUMdh8MLEJbw

I can pretty much sum up my life so far into three stages: cute and oblivious, socially awkward, and awesome.I consider myself very lucky to have siblings so close to me in age. As many of you already know I have a twin brother, Vishal, and a younger sister, Hemali. Even though sometimes we pretend that the other doesn’t exist at school, having a lot of the same teachers has been pretty cool. During my freshmen year I pretty much had two friends, but don’t worry I made more by the end of my sophomore year. I was finally coming out of my shell, and I couldn’t have done it without my friends during these two years, many of which are sitting in this class right now. During the summer between junior and senior year, I went to Summer Ventures for four weeks at the beautiful Appalachian State campus. It’s hard to believe I made such good friends in such a short amount of time. I still talk to those girls all the time, and even though they are going to Chapel Hill, I hope we will stay friends through college. If you know me (and probably even if you don’t) you know that I’m Indian. My culture, background, and religion are extremely important to me. I am part of a youth group where I teach younger kids not to feel weird or awkward about being Hindu or Indian. Through this I have met the my three bestest friends outside of school. They help me get through the stress of school and showed me that I can be serious about something I love while having fun too. Also, I do classical Indian dance with my sister and some other girls. Through bharatanatyam and my extremely talented dance teachers I have learned how to express myself not only through dance, but how I act. All in all, I love every part of being Indian which includes all the festivals and weddings I get to go to and dressing up. I started Odyssey of the Mind in the eighth grade and have never looked back. The many competitions I have been to have been an amazing experience, but the greatest honor of all was being president of the club as a senior. I hope Green Hope Odyssey of the Mind continues for many years to come. Through Odyssey of the Mind and my other friends, I have met one of my best friends, Tazeen Farooque. I could probably talk to this girl for hours about absolutely nothing at all and have fun the whole time. She has made this and high school an unforgettable experience. Another amazing person I met freshmen year that is still my best friend today is Aditi Bahali. At first glance, you would probably think we were complete opposites, so it's hard to believe we've been friends for so long. She is always excited to see me, and never fails to make me laugh and smile. Many important things happened my senior year – one of them being that my “little” sister turned 16. Unfortunately, she still acts like a baby. She is literally my best friend and the best sister I could have ever asked her. I can talk to her about any and all of my problems, and she is always there for me. She is smart, funny, pretty, and she definitely didn’t tell me to put this in here.Words can't even start to describe relationship with my sister so I hope the webcam pictures will help. As I said before I slowly started making more friends by the end of sophomore year and into this year. I feel like I have a special bond with everyone in my lunch group. They are truly amazing. They were an integral part in my transformation into who I am today. I love all of them and luckily they we are all going to be relatively close next year. They accepted me with all my awkwardness and helped me become self confident. Also, this video would not be complete without a mention of all the amazing teachers I have had at Green Hope, but a special mention is needed for the teacher of the hardest AP class I have ever taken, Spanish language… There were sweat, tears, and little bit of blood, but Senora Cox has taught me how to work harder than I have ever before and in a different language at that and that everything can't always be under my control. Through my four years of high school my family has always been there for me. I have had tremendous support from my parents through every stage in high school. I can talk to my mom about any problem I'm having, and can joke around with my dad (even if it's not the most appropriate time). My brother has forced me to not give up on school during the hard and long stretches of junior year, and even though it doesn't always seem like it, deep deep down inside we love each other a lot. I’m really excited to be going to college, but I’ll miss many of my friends that I have made over the past four years. Luckily, I get the opportunity to spend the next four years with one of the smartest girls I know. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has had any interaction with me for the past four years, for you have shaped who I am today. If I never got the chance to tell you how important you are to me or just couldn't form my feelings into words, I want you all to know I love you and thank you!!