Class Acts

Kaarnik Kalia Embraces the Full Experience of Middle School

CLASS ACTS

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Southridge seventh-grader, Kaarnik Kalia says he has enjoyed going to school and learning for as long as he can remember.

“I really liked school since I was small,” said Kalia. “I like going to school so much that Saturdays and Sundays are not my most favorite days of the week.”

While it might sound a little bit crazy for a teenager to crave time at school over the freedom of the weekends, Kalia’s reasons for loving school are pretty logical.

“I think a lot of it is about being with my friends,” said Kalia. “Just talking to them and then, also, interacting with the teachers.”

For Kalia, it’s that balance between his relationships with his friends and teachers against his joy of learning. He says his favorite subjects are math and science. And it’s his passion for learning that allowed him to win 1st Place in the 7th Grade Top Scholar contest at Southridge this spring. Kalia says he worked hard to prepare for the competition.

“We had to answer about 200 questions over various subjects like math, science, English, social studies, and current events,” said Kalia. “I checked out some encyclopedias and other books from the library and read them each day for an hour to prepare for the competition.”

Kalia’s passion for learning has him digging deep into the world of science and engineering and his regular classes.

“I like building robotics and doing other kinds of engineering kinds of things,” said Kalia. “I’ve also learned some programming using the Python programming language, and I enjoy that very much as well.”

Outside of the classroom, Kalia has taken up the violin. He says he practices for around 30 minutes a day.

“It seems like it might be hard, but once you get used to practicing with it, it’s not really that bad,” said Kalia.

He credits his parents for helping him strive for excellence in every area of his life. He’s an avid reader and is particularly fond of books in the science fiction genre. Kalia says his current favorite author is Arthur C. Clarke.

“They really help me by pushing me to learn more than I already know,” said Kalia. They also always encourage me to give 100%.”