tjTODAY 2023 Senior Issue

is Finally Free Finally Free ‘23 ‘23 is

CAMPUS FIGURES SHARE TJ LESSONS

Maxx often asks me, “do you know how you got here?” He’ll recall how I walked on stage freshman year and won a chance election, or when I applied to become a Sysadmin knowing well that I was, in fact, not the biggest nerd in the school, but still got the position. Over the past four years, we’ve built a community of some of the most intelligent, caring, accomplished, stubborn, loud, and opinionated people I might ever know. We built a family, and I can’t believe it’s almost over.

In the same way that I happened into these positions of power, it’s always felt like there has been a logical next step. TJ’s defined structures made it so easy to pass through unnoticed and unseen, just moving on to the next thing. The thing about our class is that we’ve been

given opportunities time and time again to see past those systems. When we were forced online, we blasted music in Ms. Taylor’s chem class and organized a socially distanced Homecoming. When we were given the freedom of senior year, we took everyone skiing and skipped school. You all have shown what amazing things you can do outside the bounds of the churning grind that we call our education system.

As you all go off to where you’re going, I ask only one thing. Don’t forget your time here. Forget the math test you failed and the senior research project you procrastinated, but don’t forget the people you loved and the family you built. They will see you through.

And hey, thanks for being part of mine.

With love, Rushil.

SGA Rushil Umaretiya CLASS COUNCIL Tommy Williams

It’s been a great year. I’ll never forget the heartwarming chants from the crowd after my asking at the end of our final homecoming rally: “That’s my president! That’s my president! That’s my president!”

I want to take this letter as an opportunity to reciprocate all of the love I have received from the class of 2023. Nowhere else in the world could I find a group of people as uplifting, supportive, and talented. You all are amazing.

As we go our separate ways I’d like to make a toast to the class I am so proud to be a part of.

Cheers to the dancers, who, by choreographing and teaching their dances have ingrained a piece of their culture into TJ tradition.

Cheers to the artists, who have embellished our media, beautified our halls and designed our merch! Cheers to the engineers who

built the class floats, theater sets, rockets, and cars and to the sys admins who kept Ion running and the server room from burning to the ground.

Cheers to the passionate: the screamers at rallies who went all out for spirit days. Thank you for electrifying the TJ collective and lifting our spirits with your positivity.

You’re all gifts to the world. Work hard, do great things, but never forget to take a deep breath and have a little fun every once in a while.

This year we have created memories we’ll hold onto forever. We’re the only class to organize a Ski Trip Super Bowl watch party combo, the only class to nearly collapse an entire building during prom, and will always be the class to beat.

Congrats 2023! I’ll miss you.

To the class of 2023, I offer you (life) advice from my fitness journey.

1) Take rest days. On your rest days, rest with purpose and without apology. Today you are a teenager, but before you know it you will be 33 and you will still need your knees. You will also need your head and your heart, so give them rest days too.

2) Set intentions, not goals. Goals focus on outcome and achievement, but intentions are about focus, consistency, and perseverance (which are way more

GOV TEACHER

Mrs. Trigoboff

important).

3) Don’t do it alone. Take a hike with your husband. Play pickle ball with your parents. Schedule a barre class with your best friend from the 3rd grade. Join a co-ed soccer league. Create a community and be active within it.

4) Seek and accept help from others. You will face adversity. You will break your wrist snowboarding. You will need help cooking and cleaning and putting binder clips on your stack of AP Government papers. Take it graciously, and when it’s your turn, give it abundantly.

5) Make peace with modifications. The options available to you today may not always be there for you, and that’s ok. Use free weights instead of the bar. Get your cardio on a stationary bike instead of running. Let go of what doesn’t serve you and embrace what does.

6) Seek struggle. When setting a bike resistance level for spin class my RPM

instructor says “choose a weight that scares you - something you’re not sure you can maintain.” Live this advice - if you’re comfortable, you’re not going to see progress.

7) Do it for you. Don’t do it for the gram, the tok, for anybody or anything else. Comparison is the thief of joy.

8) Practice gratitude. Thank your coaches. Thank the refs, even if you don’t like their calls. Thank your body for showing up.

9) Have confidence. Believe that you can do things and surround yourself with people who agree.

10) Listen to advice given by those with more experience than you (self-serving, I know, but still a good idea). You don’t have to make the choices we made, but at least give us a chance - we were Seniors once, too. Good luck, and see you out there.

- Mrs. Trigoboff

SGA SPONSOR

Mr. Anderson

tion.

So, I’m supposed to say something inspiring. Congrats on getting through a high school that’s harder than some undergrad programs! Yeah, burnout!! Look, I can talk all day about how you all are our future leaders and innovators but I’m going to give you a little piece of advice before you go off to college. Or to build rocket ships, or cyborgs, or whatever it is TJ kids do after gradua-

Here it is. Here’s the big life altering piece of advice: “R E L A X”. Please, I’m begging you. I know you all were born in the fires of lengthy research projects, molded in all-nighters, and burned into TJ Stars, but there’s more to life. TJ is a bubble. It’s real, but it’s not real life. Real life is outside these walls. I need you to experience it. Join a samba club, shoot a film, explore your passions, talk to people who aren’t like you.

I know some of you may have gone to college because it’s next. It’s just what you do after high school right? It’s just what my family expects of me right? You may not have given real thought about what you want. And why would you? You can’t legally buy a beer, but

we want you to make life-altering choices? It’s okay to not know. To not know if you’re on the right path, or if it’s the right major, or if that boy is really the love of your life (he’s not).

Our society teaches us that “hurry,” the dogged pursuit of success, is the panacea to our longing. Get the degree in four years, get the bag as fast as possible. We live in a fast-paced, more, more, more world, and where has it gotten us? High rates of mental-health related trauma, and a whole lot of burned out people. I don’t want to sound like some weird meditation guru, but I do want you all to know the world is more than GPAs, school rankings, and social status. Success is subjective.

So, here’s my challenge to you: Relax. Experience. Be.

tjMEDIA SENIORS STAFF SAYS GOODBYE

christina lu, lucas ribeiro, keertana senthilkumar, aarya kumar, eric feng, spencer zheng, miriam antony tjTODAY

“Hi! Can we interview you for tjTODAY?”

It’s a simple question, but one that has marked the beginning of the creative process for so many of our articles. Through the conversations that followed, Jefferson students have given us a gift. You’ve opened a window into your lives, revealed layers of the Jefferson experience that we didn’t even know existed, and given us the honor of

sharing that with the community. It hasn’t been easy: this year, tjTODAY had a smaller staff than any in recent history. We’ve often had a single writer handle an entire print article and spread, on top of trying to maintain online coverage. And we haven’t been perfect. Blurry photos have been printed, typos have stood uncorrected, and deadlines have been pushed back repeatedly. Still—we’re incredibly

ms. harris tjMEDIA Advisor

When I was a kid, I moved around every three to four years. As I got older, I followed that pattern. Four years in high school, four years in college. I started my career at Lewis High School, and that’s where I began my adventures in advising.

Like many of you, I was hesitant to come to TJ. To be honest, working at Jefferson had never occurred to me. But I knew some people here, I knew they were looking for a yearbook adviser, and school

started over an hour later than it did at Lewis. Back then, before I was a morning person, the late start time sealed the deal. Never in a million years did I expect that I would stay in one place for fifteen years.

I always knew I wanted to be a yearbook adviser, but I didn’t realize that I would find so much joy in advising tjTODAY and TJTV as well. I loved teaching English 9 (shout out to the 1,200+ Take the Floor presentations I’ve watched

sahishnu hanumansetty tjTV

When I was a freshman, I joined TJTV because I was hoping that learning a few skills about broadcast journalism would make me a viral YouTuber.

Now I’m planning on majoring in filmmaking, and I owe all of it to joining TJTV. The people I’ve worked with at TJTV are some of the most hard-working people who genuinely love what they do. It’s because of them that I’m motivated to pursue my dreams. I will miss you all so much.

It has been an honor to capture the spirit of this school through

the camera. Through homecoming pep rallies, school events, theater shows, and more, I have learned that there is a lot more to TJ than just STEM. And now a few thank yous to: Ms. Harris for being a great advisor and a good friend over the past four years of my time here at TJ. I’m really fortunate to have met a wonderful and inspiring teacher like you. We’ll miss you so much— TJTV couldn’t have been TJTV without you.

All the alumni before me. You guys have been great role models

proud of the work we’ve done this year, from in-depth coverage of integrity at TJ to an editorial on national merit.

To the graduating class: the window you’ve opened through tjTODAY is only the first chapter. The incredible passions, goals, and accomplishments we’ve seen throughout these four years will only grow. and we know the world will be better as you go out into it.

over the years), but the ever-changing nature of student publications kept me engaged and energized year after year.

Over the last 20 years - 15 of them here with you - I’ve poured everything I have into being your teacher. It’s been an honor and a pleasure, but as you get older, you’ll come to realize change is good, and while it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to TJ, it’s almost like I’m finally graduating, right along with you.

for me to follow. Thank you for teaching me everything I know about the camera.

Carl Chen and Valerie Kovacs, who are way cooler than me and will surely bring broadcast to new heights.

James Huang. I never really knew you, but I know you loved photography. I always think of you when I take pictures. You will always be missed.

From TJTV News, this is Sahishnu Hanumansetty, signing off.

kritika kumar, isabel chen, ehlaina mccaskill, johanna lohmus, niyathi vadlapatla, pramodani arulkumar Techniques

It’s not just the big things. It’s the little things as well that we’ve gotten to see, hear about, and experience in our time at TJ. It’s the interview quotes where we thought, “Hm, is that school appropriate enough for the yearbook?” It’s the sass we’ve heard from the freshmen, especially the four menaces in the corner, that added color to our classroom experience. It’s the complaints when FCPS didn’t cancel school, but LCPS did and now those kids have to find a way to school.

And that’s why TJ is special, so we made location the theme of our yearbook. We come from many different counties, commuting every day to this 398,833 square foot building to spend seven hours and twenty minutes together. In those gruesome hours, we’ve learned

no one here is boring. There’s no room for NPCs in this eccentric school filled with people pushing the boundaries of academic excellence, creativity, and social norms. Every year has been a little different, some were weird, but all had unique experiences that have bonded us together forever.

Thank you to the freshmen that made this yearbook possible, even though most of you never made a deadline. You’re entertaining though, and we look forward to seeing what you make in future years. Thank you to our eighth period staff for asking random people weird questions all year long. Thank you to the students who answered those questions and shared your life stories with strangers. Most importantly, thank you to our advisor, Ms. Harris. She has

been so important in making our award-winning yearbooks what they are and helping to capture the beauty and uniqueness of TJ. After leaving her mark on all of us, she is going out to make it somewhere else. We wish her the best as she embarks on her journey :) (she told us not to say that and remove it from our closing pages, but it’s just oh so fitting). Okay, but for real, it’s been an unforgettable year. The students there are lucky to be gaining such a wonderful, kind and positive person, and we are blessed to have had her for the past 15 years. We will miss you, and don’t you dare forget us because we will never forget you.

XOXO, Your senior editors <3

A threshold is defined as an entryway or starting point, the junction where familiarity ends and a new journey begins. For this reason, Threshold is an apt name to give to TJ’s long-running and only literary magazine — it is here that many students embark on their lifelong connection with the arts. Whether they seek self-discovery of the inner creative within them, or wish for a place to express

themselves freely, there is a home for everyone here.

This year’s theme was “Fortune”, with the sections in the magazine named after a card in the tarot. TJ often feels as if it would benefit from having frequent favorable winds blow within its halls. From student to student, we hope that this edition of Threshold brings all who read it the utmost luck.

It’s an almost surreal feeling

to be at the end of this voyage, especially after having spent the majority of our high school years working on this magazine. We know without a doubt, though, that another adventure lies in wait for us soon — and when the time comes for us to cross that thresh old, we will remember our time together, and how fortunate we are to have been here.

There’s a running joke among the Teknos staff that, despite the 70-ish fascinating pages of research that comprise the journal, no one bothers to read past the front cover. We like to think that everyone is just mesmerized by the stunning art. Really, it’s because no one wants to read 70 pages of scientific jargon — we get it.

It isn’t just Teknos. Throughout our time at TJ, we’ve realized that

science is so often obscured by writing that is technical, dry, and ultimately inaccessible. But this issue shows why a club like Teknos must exist. In a world of sterile scientific writing, Teknos turns a new page, injecting pieces with voice and clarity. The creation of each journal is driven by high schoolers — students with bold perspectives on science communication. With each edition, we trade passive voice

for passion, and APA for ingenuity. As you browse this year’s vol ume, we do hope you’ll spend time admiring the gorgeous cover (shout out to Mulan!). But we also hope you’ll explore the pieces; consider the innovative research, vibrant design, and fresh choices that defined this edition of Teknos — and made it one of the most memorable experiences of our four years here.

elina liu, mira kim, ethan caldwell, elise zhu Threshold

ethan caldwell, kenneth do, vivian gao, nurdin hossain, rachel huang, mariska kassi, srishty muthusekaran, maxx yang

SUPERLATIVES class of 2023

Cyrus Rivers Riley Cooper

Niki Khare James Henry

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

Aryan Rajput Lynn Tao

Liam Carey Vihaan Mathur

Inaayah Khan Sophia Li

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

PHOTO// K. Senthikumar

PHOTO// A. Khan

SUPERLATIVES

PHOTO// A. Raval

Evelyne Breed Megan Enochs

Elina Liu Ridhi Pendyala

Sean Kim Kathleen Zhang

Emma Cox Clara Kim

Laasya Ravipati Nimesh Rudra (not pictured)

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

Lauren Fisher Cindy Peng

PHOTO// A. Raval

PHOTO// K. Senthilkumar

PHOTO// A. Khan

PHOTO// A. Khan

Grant Frederick Basilio Kritika Khati

Lyat Melese Estan Rodriguez

Prisha Ray Cindy Yang

Vasantharao Vinay Ayala

Sahishnu Hanumansetty Alan Hsu

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

Jessica May Niyathi Vadlapatla

PHOTO// S. Zheng

PHOTO// S. Zheng

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

PHOTO// S. Zheng

PHOTO// S. Zheng

next on Broadway

most spirited

next socrates

bestdressed

best laugh

peas in a pod

Raed Mirza Faraz Mirza

Hannah Frieden Gabriel Ascoli

Ann Shen Sachin Kumar

Akhil Krishnan & Arjun Gupta

Ethan Caldwell Nihal Shah

PHOTO// K. Senthilkumar

Prasidha Padmanabhan & Vani Gupta

PHOTO// K. Senthilkumar

PHOTO// K. Senthilkumar

PHOTO// K. Senthilkumar

Elisabeth Everhart Rushil Umaretiya

PHOTO// K. Senthilkumar

PHOTO// S. Zheng

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

Freshmen

PHOTO// A. Martin

PHOTO// A. Martin

PHOTO// A. Martin

PHOTO// A. Martin

PHOTO// A. Martin

Sophomores

Sophomores

2022 Juniors Juniors

PHOTO// S. Hanumansetty

PHOTO// Z. Baker

PHOTO// S. Hanumansetty

PHOTO// M. Iyer

PHOTO// M. Iyer

PHOTO// L. Ribeiro

SENIORS

PHOTO // G. Sharma

SENIORS

PHOTO // Legacy Studios

PHOTO // S. Jun

PHOTO // S. Jun

PHOTO // S. Jun

Alabama

Auburn University [1]

Lucas Boles

California

California Institute of Technology [2]

Miina Anvelt

Ellie Chen

Claremont McKenna College [1]

Riley Cooper

Harvey Mudd College [1]

Luke Wang

Pomona College [1]

Mulan Pan

Stanford University [1]

Mira Kim

University of California, Berkeley [3]

Yashna Hasija

Tanish Jain

Vihaan Mathur

University of California, Los Angeles [1]

Archi Patel

University of California, Santa Barbara [1]

Sungjoon Kim

University of California, Irvine [1]

Samuel Gwon

University of Southern California [3]

Griff Boehnlein

Deccan Maniam

Richa Misra

Colorado

University of Colorado

Boulder [2]

Rohan Kompella

John Chance McDonald

Connecticut

University of Colorado

Boulder [2]

Rohan Kompella

John Chance McDonald

Yale University [1]

Cyrus Rivers

District of Columbia

Georgetown University [8]

Patrick Bai

Ishita Birmani

Emery (Christina) Han

Nabiha Islam

Christina Lu

Katie Merrill

Shriya Muthukumar

Elise Zhu

George Washington University [1]

Michael Owoyemi

Delaware

University of Delaware [1]

Jonluke O’Cain

Florida

University of Central Florida [1]

Dante Valencia

University of Florida [1]

Megan Enochs

Georgia

Georgia Institute of Technology [3]

Kevin Shan

Raymond Zeng

Eric Zhang

Illinois

University of Chicago [14]

Nikhil Chintalapati

Clarissa Ding

Winston Gan

Mariska Kassi

Aidan Li

Matthew Li

Kisna Matta

Simar Narula

Sidd Rangavajjula

Lucas Ribeiro

Pi Rogers

Mira Singh

Kaiden Wu

Sherry Yu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [18]

Abhinav Angirekula

Tianhao Chen

Hyunjae Chung

Hein Htut

Lauren Hyde

Hamzah Jamal

Oviya Jeyaprakash

Sumanth Kalluru

Grace Ko

Harshil Koyyalamudy

Daniel Philipov

Ram Reddy

Andrew Ryu

Kaushik Siruvuri

Raghav Tirumale

Johnathan Tong

Akshay Vellore

Zachary Yashar

Indiana

George Washington University [1]

Radha Vinayak

Indiana University [1]

Neha Venigalla

Purdue University [17]

Neil Agrawal

Arjun Aneja

Vinay Ayala

Mia Brashear

Patrick Gaucher

Alan Hsu

Aashna Johri

Kritika Kumar

Pranav Kuruba

Ehlaina McCaskill

Supreet Mishra

Kushal Muthamsetty

Rishi Sripathi

Sean Su

Kaia Wright

Davis Zetlan

Qirui Zhou

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology [1]

Erik Winston

Iowa

Grinnell College [1]

Natalie Nardone

Maryland

Johns Hopkins University [4]

Suhani Aggarwal

Tarini Basireddy

Sameer Gabbita

Grace Guan

St. John’s College [1]

Rachel Rozsa University of Maryland [29]

Ewan An

Viraj Bala

Tanvi Bhave

Shivank Bhimavarapu

Kevin Chong

Richa Gupta

Sanya Gupta

James Henry

Alan Jiang

Jayant Kammula

Sean Kim

Vishal Kotha

Anurag Kumar

Aarya Kumar

Charu Mehta

Kavyesh Pasham

Sravya Patibandla

Keenan Powell

Rachit Raval

Saloni Shah

Aryamann Singh

Kevin Sridhar

Alexander Tong

Sai Vaka

Anthony va Rheenen

Hemang Vasu

Jonathan Vu

Maxx Yang

Spencer Zheng

Massachusetts

Boston University [2]

Varsha Athreya

Krisha Pahwa

Clark University [1]

Eleanor Rowland

Emerson College [1]

Sahishnu Hanumansetty

Harvard University [5]

Alvan Arulandu

Daphne Feigin

Clara Kim

Lyat Melese

Lynn Tao

Massachusetts Institute of Technology [3]

Emma Cox

Isabella Zhu

Lilian Zhu

Northeastern University [1]

Sanjana Anand

Wellesley College [1]

Rebecca Hsieh

Williams College [1]

Liam Carey

University of Massachusetts Amherst [1]

Ayush Antil

Michigan

Hillsdale College [1]

Hayden Stolzenberg University of Michigan [10]

Nicholas Artiedamarin

Arnav Kadam

Daniel Kim

Teja Koduru

Jerry Mao

Thrisha Sakamuri

Shruti Shah

Shahzad Sohail

Amy Wang

Cindy Yang

Missouri

Saint Louis University [1]

Charan Sattiraju

Washington University in St. Louis [1]

Nandini Shyamala

North Hampshire

Dartmouth College [3]

Irene Ko

Victoria Wang

Edward Zhang

New Jersey

Princeton University [4]

Gabriel Ascoli

Praneeth Bhandaru

Ethan Caldwell

Athan Zhang

Rutgers University [1]

Khushi Garg

New York

Barnard College [1]

Jessica Ye

Columbia University [1]

Audrey Czarnecki

Cornell University [7]

Alison Chavez

Maggie Gao

Becca Jeffries

Nikita Khare

Aryan Rajput

Jerry Sheng

Claire Wang

New York University [8]

Pramodani Arulkumar

Jeffrey Chen

Sahiti Kota

Jordan Lee

Kallie Mehta

Prisha Ray

Anish Susarla

Christal Wang

Stony Brook University [1]

Grant Frederick Basilio

North Carolina

Duke University [6]

Taein Kim

Satvik Matta

Nikhil Pesaladinne

Shashwat Rao

Aditya Vasantharao

Sara Yoon

University of North Caro-

lina at Chapel Hill [7]

Ebenezer Amare

Helen Fu

Jaya Gupta

Gavin Hatalosky

Johanna Lohmus

Prasidha Padmanabhan

Rushil Umaretiya

Ohio

Case Western Reserve University [6]

Ananya Bandaru

Sara Elanchezhian

Raed Mirza

Ann Shen

Nikhil Vallikat

Christopher Paonessa

Denison University [1]

Estan Rodriguez

Oberlin College and Conservatory [1]

Audrey Bridges

Ohio State University [2]

Ethan Chitturi

Shachi Mahajan

Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma [1]

Tim Johanson

Pennsylvania

Carnegie Mellon University [9]

Eric Feng

Eric Feng

Bryan Hong

Nathaniel Kenschaft

Joshua Lyon

Faraz Mirza

Anjali Pillai

Yuktha Vemula

Jessica Wang

Lafayette College [3]

William Gutiérrez

Ben McDannell

Champe Mitchell

Pennsylvania State University [11]

Tharun Dilliraj

Arjun Gupta

Akhil Krishnan

Jay Rachakonda

Nimesh Rudra

Zorawar Sandhu

Nihal Shah

Ishaan Sharma

Nathan Singhvi

Aaron Thapa

Rohan Zaroo

Temple University [2]

Srishty Muthusekaran

Laasya Ravipati

University of Pennsylvania [5]

Myles Bao

Sauman Das

Anisha Talreja

Angie Zhang

Megan Zhang

University of Pittsburgh [12]

Farouk Boudjemaa

Katelyn Chen

Sreekar Gogineni

Abhay Gopal

Lillani Horcharoen

Aaron Huynh

Tanmai Kalisipudi

Kritika Khati

Tiffany Lee

Jun Hee Lee

Laura Liang

Krisha Pahwa

Jaylen Pilgrim

Rhode Island

Brown University [2]

Amit Erraguntla

Sophia Li

Texas

Rice University [2]

Achraf Azzaoui

Samuel Turner

Texas A&M University [3]

William Ludwig

Ronel Sahoo

Neel Sharma

University of Texas at Austin [4]

Ayush Das

Mantra Iyer

Arnav Jain

Harsha Ravella

University of Texas at Dallas [1]

Connor Harris

Utah

Brigham Young University [1]

Sam Bennion

Vermont

Middlebury College [1]

Jonathan Buchholz

Virginia

College of William and Mary [24]

Ihsan Amin

Miriam Antony

Mina Aydin

Leah Connell

Elisabeth Everhart

Lauren Fisher

Hannah Frieden

Igor Golubkov

Naomi Heilen

Rachel Huang

Yulee Kang

Sophia King

Lianhao Li

Jeffery Lin

Mary Loyola-Gomez

Maanasa Schwartzkopf

Lor Ridgway

Keertana Senthilkumar

Priya Shan

Savara Shrivastava

Jawand Singh

Katherine Snelbecker

Dhanbee Suh

Aakash Vittala

George Mason University [5]

Taimoor Babar

Alexandra Funk

Alexia De Costa

Prajakta Gadhamsetty

Ladan Hashi

Shenandoah University [1]

Will Hemmens

University of Mary Washington [1]

Evelyne Breed

University of Virginia [44]

Nithin Avala

Rishik Balerao

Manav Bharath

Karthik Bhargav

Noah Cha

Niharika Chandna

Amy Chen

Isabel Chen

Jessica Chung

Kenneth Do

Vivian Feng

Vivian Gao

Sophia Go

Tanishk Govil

James Greene

Vani Gupta

Nurdin Hossain

Allen Huo

Camila Janada

Albert Kang

Mikhail Kornilov

Brian Lai

Jay Lalwani

Jean Lavigne du Cadet

Derek Li

Michael Li

Elina Liu

Connor McKenzie

Ridhi Pendyala

Cindy Peng

Anika Rekulapelli

Prithvi Seri

Rachael Sim

Austin Song

Suraj Vaddi

Niyathi Vadlapatla

Tommy Williams

Caroline Xu

Brian Xu

Alexander Yao

Sophia Yao

Justin Yoo

Alex Yung

Ethan Zhang

Virginia Commonwealth University [4]

Subrat Poudel

Isha Satapathy

Raheel Shaik

Sparsha Srinivasan

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [23]

Jerald Barnard

Lise Bejtlich

Ryan Blymiller

Samanvitha Dammalapati

Vivian Denny

Randy Fu

Nidhish Jayapal Mahesh

May Jessica

Daniel Lian

Michael Liang

Jonathan Liu

Colin McLaughlin

Sumanth Moole

Trisha Naidu

Zac Rader

Harini Ramaswamy

Jay Rajurkar

Saina Shibili

Aditi Shukla

Arav Singh

Conan Ugaz

Jay Varakala

Ananya Yarlagadda

Washington

University of Washington [2]

Aditya Kompella

Alex Li

Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin-Madison [1]

Tyler Richard

International

Northeastern University

London [1]

Inaayah Khan

Sorbonne Université [1]

Benoy Sen

University of Toronto [2]

Wilson Chen

Elizabeth Li

Suhani Aggarwal

Johns Hopkins University

Neil Agrawal

Purdue University

“No regrets.”

Ebenezer Amare

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“Though we will find countless successes in this world, the credit is not ours; These blessings come from God above.”

Ihsan Amin

William & Mary

“To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend.” - Jacques Derrida

Ewan An University of Maryland “ ”

Sanjana Anand

Northeastern University

“It’s times like these, wish I had a time machine”

- Sabrina Carpenter

Arjun Aneja

Purdue University

“Be Happy”

Abhinav Angirekula

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

“I know I’m not good enough. I never will be. That’s no excuse to stop fighting. No matter how much it scares me.”

- Spider-Man

Ayush Antil

University of Massachusetts Amherst

“I learned how to swim while they stuck in the deep end” - Lone

Miriam Antony

College of William and Mary

“we made it out to the other side” cola by Lana Del Rey

Miina Anvelt

California Institute of Technology

“There is a star inside of everyone waiting for its time to shine. Never give up.”

Nicholas Artiedamarin University of Michigan

“Babouk”

Alvan Arulandu

Harvard University

“The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Pramodani Arulkumar

New York University

“when life gives you lemons eat them with the skin.”

Gabriel Ascoli

Princeton University

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you’re a fool than to open it and remove all doubt” - Mark Twain

Varsha Athreya

Boston University

“Starbucks warmed Chocolate chip cookies are the best. Highly recommend.”

Nithin Avala

University of Virginia

Vinay Ayala Purdue University

“You brought a backpack, I brought my bags packed.”

Mina Aydin

College of William and Mary

“Make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid :)” - Taylor Swift

Achraf Azzaoui Rice University

“Crippling caffeine dependence is the only thing I got out of this school”

Taimoor Babar

George Mason University

“’Oh you graduated?’ No, I decided I was finished.” - Ye

Patrick Bai

Georgetown University

“Let the one who is disuse, one who is daughter restore spring with her each appearance from beneath the earth.”

Viraj Bala

University of Maryland

“I get butterflies when I think of myself.”

Rishik Balerao

University of Virginia

“I couldn’t even submit this on time”

Ananya Bandaru

Case Western Reserve University “live...”

Myles Bao

University of Pennsylvania

“go to Vihaan Mathur”

Jerald Barnard

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Growing up is probably the dumbest thing you could do”

Grant Frederick Basilio

Stony Brook University

“We had nothing to lose, nothing to gain, nothing we desired anymoreexcept to make our lives into a work of art.” - Lana Del Rey

Tarini Basireddy

Johns Hopkins University

“I like to set difficult goals for myself; I’ve outlived the queen, now I’ve gotta outlive the king.”

Lise Bejtlich

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Inappropriate! Inappropriate!”

- Dr. Jonathan Osborne

Sam Bennion

Brigham Young University

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started”

Praneeth Bhandaru

Princeton University

“You gotta know what it feels like to be sad before you can really appreciate feeling happy.”

Manav Bharath

The University of Virginia

Karthik Bhargav

University of Virginia

“Pressure makes diamonds”

Tanvi Bhave

University of Maryland

Shivank Bhimavarapu

University of Maryland

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”

Ishita Birmani

Georgetown University

“stay fun and fresh”

Ryan Blymiller

Virginia Tech

“I ain’t Irish, but my money Dublin’” - BLP Kosher

Griff Boehnlein

University of Southern California

Lucas Boles

Auburn University

“The bird flu? Yeah, they tend to do that.”

Drishika Bose

“You know it’s not the same as it was”

Farouk Boudjemaa

University of Pittsburgh

“If you don’t know which port you’re sailing to, how do you know which wind is favorable?”

Mia Brashear Purdue University

Evelyne Breed University of Mary

Washington

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

- Jeremiah 29:11

Audrey Bridges

Oberlin College and Conservatory

“I don’t know how I made it, but I did!”

Jonathan Buchholz

Middlebury College

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

Ethan Caldwell

Princeton University

“I am so grateful for the friends I made at TJ. Shoutout to TJSD, Threshnos, and my lunchbox thieves–I’ll always keep trading cards of you in my memory. Love to AN,CM,DP,JK,KD,MK,NS,SB,SH,TN…& AR.”

Liam Carey Williams College

“The music is so beautiful/It melts away so quickly/And you’re standing in the silence/Standing in the darkness/Thinking about wishing”

- The Band’s Visit

Noah Cha

University of Virginia

“Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.” 1 Thessalonians 5:26 (ESV)

Niharika Chandna

University of Virginia

“All the possibilities. No limits, just epiphanies”

- Best Day of My Life

Alison Chavez

Cornell University

“enjoy the little things”

Amy Chen

University of Virginia

“Go outside, touch grass!”

Ellie Chen

California Institute of Technology

“How do I know I’m POWERful? I always WORK over TIME.”

Isabel Chen

University of Virginia

“Hannah Montana said nobody’s perfect, but here I am”

Jeffrey Chen New York University

“As long as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth exist, everything will be all right.”

Katelyn Chen

University of Pittsburgh

“i wanna go home”

Tianhao Chen

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

“The journey is not solely defined by the milestones reached, but by the wisdom gained, the lessons learned, and the transformations experienced while traversing the path.”

Wilson Chen

University of Toronto

“Signature Ability — Tailwind (1 free, 2 takedown recharge): INSTANTLY propel Jett in the direction she is moving. If Jett is standing still, she will propel forward.”

Nathan Cheng

“Pain is temporary, GPA is forever.”

Nikhil Chintalapati

University of Chicago

Ethan Chitturi

Ohio State University

“thrive in the chaos”

Kevin Chong

“Default Fake A Fake B Rotate Go C Flank Through Garage End A”

Hyunjae Chung

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“even more clueless than when I first entered high school to be honest”

Jessica Chung

University of Virginia

“are you the real part of a complex number scaled by an arbitrary constant W? cause you’ve got W Re(z) (complex rizz)”

Leah Connell College of William and Mary “ka-caio

”

Riley Cooper Claremont McKenna College

“Whatever happens, please remember all the laughter”

Nadia Costescu

“All’s well as ends better!”

- the Gaffer

Emma Cox

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.“

- Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda

Audrey Czarnecki

Columbia University in the City of New York

“After the rain, the sun will reappear. There is life. After the pain, the joy will still be here.” - Walt Disney

Samanvitha Dammalapati

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Sometimes life is like this tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you will come to a better place.” - Iroh, Avatar: the Last Airbender

Ayush Das University of Texas - Austin

“I’m just doing me, and to me, that’s what got me this far.”

- Lil Uzi Vert

Sauman Das University of Pennsylvania

Alexia De Costa

George Mason University

“Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.”

Vivian Denny

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tharun Dilliraj

Penn State University

Clarissa Ding

University of Chicago

“see you at tjstar in fifteen years”

Kenneth Do University of Virginia

“WE TAKE THOSEEE”

Jorge Duggar

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”

Sara Elanchezhian

Case Western Reserve University

“Worrying means you suffer twice :))”

Megan Enochs

University of Florida

“I hope someday we’ll sit down together and laugh with each other about these days, these days”

Amit Erraguntla Brown University

Elisabeth Everhart

William & Mary

“This was the very first page, not where the storyline ends”

Daphne Feigin

Harvard University

“We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.” - Winnie the Pooh

Eric Feng

Carnegie Mellon University

“In the wind and ran, all this pain, doesn’t stay. Dry your tears, do not fear, all our hopes will still remain.”

- Translated from手

Eric Feng

Carnegie Mellon University

“As we wrap up this chapter of our lives, remember the friends we made and the lessons we learned. But in case you slept through some of those lessons, remember chat.openai. com”

Vivian Feng University of Virginia

“In the spiritual world, the old physician and the minister—mutual victims as they have been—may, unawares, have found their earthly stock of hatred and antipathy transmuted into golden love.”

Lauren Fisher

College of William and Mary

“I came, I saw, I conquered”

- Pitbull

Hannah Frieden

William & Mary

Helen Fu

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“... it’s going down!”

Randy Fu

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Life is a movie and your the protagonist”

Alexandra Funk

George Mason University

“Students need 6-8 hours of sleep.”

TJ said, “6-8 = -2”

Sameer Gabbita

Johns Hopkins University

Prajakta Gadhamsetty

George Mason University

“I’m delulu and I’ve accepted it”

Winston Gan

University of Chicago

“inconspicuously immerse yourself in the realm of gratification”

Maggie Gao

Cornell University

“When life gives you lemons...”

Vivian Gao

University of Virginia

“Dont cry because its over. Smile because it happened”

Khushi Garg

Rutgers University

“luck is preparation meeting opportunity, so just keep swimming”

- Oprah and Dory

Alyssa Gatesman

“My takeaway from a half-online high school experience is that if you gaslight yourself into thinking you’re super cool and amazing, it just might become reality.”

Patrick Gaucher

Purdue University

“Go to B block”

- Westside Gunn

Sophia Go

University of Virginia

“came for the sports, stayed for the orchestra <3”

Sreekar Gogineni

University of Pittsburgh

“Anybody got food?”

Igor Golubkov

The College of William & Mary

“Blasting music so I never get any work done”

Abhay Gopal

University of Pittsburgh

Tanishk Govil University of Virginia

“GPS said it’s my turn”

James Greene University of Virginia

“Sometimes, you just have to go full monke”

Grace Guan Johns Hopkins University

“LET’S GET THIS BREAD!! ��”

Arjun Gupta Penn State University

“Move with humility and silence

Never exhale unless it’s to say the word ‘checkmate’”

Jaya Gupta

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“I swear I don’t recognize half of these people”

- Gilmore Girls

Richa Gupta University of Maryland

“When life gives you lemons, throw them at Sally at 30 m/s and calculate the time in seconds it takes for Sally to realize you’re not a good friend”

Sanya Gupta University of Maryland

“outro: graduated”

Vani Gupta University of Virginia

“You’re on your own, kid. Yeah, you can face this”

William Gutiérrez Lafayette College

“Graduation? That’s a big word for Elmo!”

Samuel Gwon

University of California, Irvine

“But no matter how you get there or where you end up, human beings have this miraculous gift to make that place home” - Creed Bratton

Emery Han

Georgetown University

Sahishnu Hanumansetty Emerson College

“ok, so where’s the donut I was promised?”

Connor Harris University of Texas at Dallas

“TJ is like a washing machine and I’m the one who’s stuck.”

Ladan Hashi

George Mason University “...laugh...”

Yashna Hasija Berkeley University of California

“Master has given Dobby a sock. Dobby is free!”

Gavin Hatalosky

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“After 4 long grueling years of school, I can finally move on to 8 long grueling years of school.”

Naomi Heilen College of William and Mary

“I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable. I am an original.”

Will Hemmens

Shenandoah University

“If the girls like bad boys, my GPA makes me a chick magnet”

James Henry University of Maryland

“Kill them with success, bury them with a smile.”

Bryan Hong

Carnegie Mellon University

“Always shake the ketchup bottle before using it.”

Lillani Horcharoen

University of Pittsburgh

“It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself.”

Nurdin Hossain

University of Virginia

Rebecca Hsieh Wellesley College

“if all else fails, marry rich.”

Alan Hsu Purdue University

“weather is my passion.”

Hein Htut

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”

Rachel Huang

William & Mary

“Senioritis is real. Fun times.”

Allen Huo

University of Virginia

Aaron Huynh

University of Pittsburgh

“>^•w•^<”

Lauren Hyde

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“when in doubt, just fake it til you make it til you do.”

Nabiha Islam

Georgetown University

“I’m not lazy, I’m just saving my energy for Ramadan.”

Mantra Iyer

University of Texas at Austin

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

Tanish Jain

Berkeley University of California

“Everybody knowing my name now from Coast to Coast” -

Arnav Jain

University of Texas at Austin

“It’s not gambling if you never lose.”

Hamzah Jamal

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Wealth is in the mind, not the pocket. If that’s the case, then I’ve been paid.”

- A$AP Rocky

Camila Janada

University of Virginia

“I run, I fast.”

Nidhish Jayapal Mahesh

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Becca Jeffries

Cornell University

“long story short, i survived.”

Oviya Jeyaprakash

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

“Things work out in the end. If it’s not working out right now, then it’s not the end.”

Alan Jiang University of Maryland

“Do your best to do better.”

Tim Johanson

University of Oklahoma

“Go to Sahiti Kota.”

Aashna Johri

Purdue University

“I heard you die twice, once when they bury you in the grave and the second time is the last time that somebody mentions your name.”Macklemore

Arnav Kadam

University of Michigan

Tanmai Kalisipudi

University of Pittsburgh

“if you’re already late, might as well grab a donut.”

Sumanth Kalluru

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

“Sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze.” - Kevin Gates

Jayant Kammula

University of Maryland

“High school will end someday. Take that as a good thing or a bad thing.”

Albert Kang

University of Virginia

“that’s tuff”

Yulee Kang

College of William and Mary “valid.”

Mariska Kassi

University of Chicago

“It’s been fun! I’m running away from my responsibilities, and it feels great.”

Nathaniel Kenschaft

Carnegie Mellon University

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” - Albert Einstein

Inaayah Khan

Northeastern University London

“I think we are stories, all of us.”

Nikita Khare

Cornell University

“And he wondered if there would ever be a day that came when they wouldn’t have to go through endless distortions just to be understood.”Babel by RF Kuang

Kritika Khati

University of Pittsburgh

“Leaving my legacy as a cougar behind to become a panther.”

Clara Kim

Harvard University

“I’m so stoked, I need a toast”Taylor Swift

Daniel Kim

University of Michigan

“don’t follow your dreams. follow my Instagram @daniely1kim”

Mira Kim

Stanford University

“There is power in being robbed / & still choosing to dance.” — Amanda Gorman, “School’s Out”

Sean Kim University of Maryland

“Guys don’t worry, I’ll transfer back after one year”

Sungjoon Kim

University of California Santa Barbara

“It’ll be okay.”

Taein Kim

Duke University

“Bad decisions make good stories!”

Sophia King

College of William and Mary

“Takin’ less L’s, makin’ more M’s” - 21 Savage

Grace Ko

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.”

- Kazuo Ishiguro

Irene Ko

Dartmouth College

“By grace, through faith”

Teja Koduru

University of Michigan

“It is what it is”

Rohan Kompella

University of Colorado Boulder

“Everything’s got to end sometime. Otherwise, nothing would ever get started.” - The Doctor

Aditya Kompella

University of Washington

“I put the monkey in Curious George”

Jonathan Kong

“Sometimes, when I think about the people I’ve left behind, I realize I’m a terrible tour guide”

Mikhail Kornilov

University of Virginia

“I like to move it move it”

- King Julian

Sahiti Kota

New York University

“Go to Sophia Yao”

Vishal Kotha

University of Maryland

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day.”

Harshil Koyyalamudy

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“My track record so clean, they couldn’t wait to just bash me” - Jack Harlow

Akhil Krishnan

Penn State University

“Life’s a coin flip until you make both sides heads.”

Kritika Kumar Purdue University

“Do it for the plot :)”

Anurag Kumar University of Maryland

“Writing this aphorism is left as an exercise for the reader.”

Aarya Kumar University of Maryland

“Make sure to actually run if you get on the right track.”

Pranav Kuruba

Purdue University “����“����

Brian Lai

University of Virginia

“Time allows us to grow and reflect, to evolve and study our mistakes. It allows us to give ourselves the illusion that we are making progress, when we were perfect right from the start.” - \T/

Jay Lalwani

University of Virginia

“The grass is always greener where the dogs are pooping.”

Jean Lavigne du Cadet University of Virginia “Take it easy.”

Jordan Lee New York University “STAYC girls...”

Jun Hee Lee

University of Pittsburgh

“I carry sticks with my team like this is lacrosse.”

Tiffany Lee

University of Pittsburgh

“It was nice while it lasted.”

Aidan Li

University of Chicago

“It’s not a cheat meal if you’re always bulking.”

Alex Li

University of Washington

“Thank you to my friends who made my TJ experience so unique.”

Derek Li University of Virginia

“I got too silly ��”

Elizabeth Li University of Toronto “>^..^<”

Lianhao Li College of William and Mary “Disreputanception.”

Matthew Li University of Chicago

“The corgi let me down.”

Michael Li

University of Virginia

“It could’ve been worse, but not much.”

Sophia Li Brown University “...love <3”

Daniel Lian Virginia Polytechnic Institute

“Call me the BREADmaker because I DOUGHn’t know what I’m doing.”

Michael Liang Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Broke my back carrying.”

Laura Liang University of Pittsburgh

“Cry when you want, and laugh whenever you can.”

Jeffery Lin

William and Mary

“The sun in the sky is red, the sun in my heart is steve bannon.”

Elina Liu

University of Virginia if (elina = tall) { print “true”; }

Jonathan Liu Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Johanna Lohmus University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“Senioritis hit me so hard I couldn’t even think of a senior quote.”

Mary Loyola-Gomez College of William & Mary “Until death, it is all life.”

Christina Lu

Georgetown University “yum”

William Ludwig Texas A&M University “N/A”

Joshua Lyon

Carnegie Mellon University

“Problems are opportunities”

Shachi Mahajan

Ohio State University

“can I interest you in a judgemental comment?”

Nicolas Makovnik

“When thunderclouds start pouring down, light a fire they can’t put out, carve your name into those shining stars.”

Deccan Maniam

University of Southern California

“Let’s hanglide out of this loser emporium!” - The Law

Jerry Mao

University of Michigan

“Get off your phone; go to bed.”

Vihaan Mathur

University of California, Berkeley “Go to Tim Johanson.”

Kisna Matta

University of Chicago

Satvik Matta

Duke University

“It’s not bragging if it’s true.”

Jessica May

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Ehlaina McCaskill

Purdue University

“The night is young.”

Ben McDannell Lafayette College

“I don’t know.”

John Chance McDonald

University of Colorado Boulder “Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”

- Benjamin Franklin

Connor McKenzie

University of Virginia

“If you can’t convince them, confuse them.”

Colin McLaughlin

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Charu Mehta

University of Maryland, College Park

“That was so fetch.”

Kallie Mehta

New York University

“Don’t ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what.” - Michael

Scott

Lyat Melese Harvard University

“Wait, there’s more…”

Katie Merrill Georgetown University

“Don’t drive like you’re scared of your own car.”

Faraz Mirza

Carnegie Mellon University

“Don’t hesitate to try harder.”

Raed Mirza

Case Western Reserve University

“One day, we shall stand up and our backsides will remain attached to our seats.”

Supreet Mishra Purdue University

“Everybody wanted to know what I would do if I didn’t graduate... I guess we’ll never know.”

Richa Misra University of Southern California

“Where you movin’? I said onto better things.” - Drake

Champe Mitchell

Lafayette College

“CEO of the Champion lifestyle.”

Sumanth Moole

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“EXACTLY WHAT YOU RUN FROM YOU END UP CHASING.”

Kushal Muthamsetty Purdue University

Shriya Muthukumar Georgetown University

Srishty Muthusekaran Temple University

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Bernard

M. Baruch

Simar Narula

University of Chicago

“and so, the adventure begins.”

Jonluke O’Cain

University of Delaware

“I say, if your knees aren’t green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.”

- Bill Watterson

Michael Owoyemi

The George Washington University

“I’m the perfect amount of narcissistic; my friends can attest.”

Prasidha Padmanabhan

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

“This was the very first page, not where the story line ends.” - Taylor Swift

Krisha Pahwa

University of Pittsburgh and Boston University

“Can we keep my Legos at home?”

Mulan Pan

Pomona College

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” - William Shakespeare, The Tempest

Christopher Paonessa

Case Western Reserve University

Kavyesh Pasham

University of Maryland

“11:20 AM on September 16th, 2022.”

Archi Patel

University of California Los Angeles

Sravya Patibandla

University of Maryland “hi!”

Ridhi Pendyala

University of Virginia

“I’m taking pictures in my mind so I can save them for a rainy day.”

Cindy Peng

University of Virginia

“I’ve never had to use the crying emoji until I came here�� ”

Nikhil Pesaladinne

Jaylen Pilgrim

University of Pittsburgh

Anjali Pillai

Carnegie Mellon University

“In the forest of self-discovery, the path that is hidden and unexplored always has the prettiest flowers.”

Subrat Poudel

Virginia Commonwealth University

Keenan Powell

University of Maryland

“They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our Othello bots.”

Jay Rachakonda

Penn State University

“Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.” - Drake

Zac Rader

Virginia Polytechnic Institute

“You work hard, I don’t. We are not the same. I am stupid.”

Aryan Rajput

Cornell University

Jay Rajurkar

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“it’s a parade inside my city yeahhhh.”

Harini Ramaswamy

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Off to capture college life on @rinistarcam.”

Sidd Rangavajjula

University of Chicago

“I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating.”

- Sophocles

Shashwat Rao

Duke University

Rachit Raval

University of Maryland

“They didn’t believe in us, But I know God did.” - DJ Khaled

Harsha Ravella

University of Texas at Austin

“You’ve got to enjoy the little things in life, like blowing bubbles.”

Ram Reddy

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars.”

Anika Rekulapelli

University of Virginia

“Come on! Live a little!” - Ferris Bueller

Lucas Ribeiro

University of Chicago

“What’s the derivative of a webassign? A web-a-cosine.”

Tyler Richard

University of Wisconsin, Madison

“These are the times we’ll hold when our memories fade.” - Eden

Lor Ridgway College of William and Mary

Cyrus Rivers

Yale University

“Jesters do oft prove prophets.”

Estan Rodriguez

Denison University

“That is all we are going to do for now. We are just going to take this bird by bird.” - Anne Lamott

Pi Rogers

University of Chicago

“Every mystery ever solved had been a puzzle from the dawn of the human species right up until someone solved it.”

Eleanor Rowland Clark University

“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees!”

Rachel Rozsa St. John’s College

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Nimesh Rudra

Pennsylvania State University

“If me and a grizzly are in a fight, pray for the grizzly.”

Andrew Ryu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Trisha Naidu

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Natalie Nardone

Grinnell College

“I came for the arts.”

Duke University

“cheers!”

Daniel Philipov

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Patience is a virtue, but waiting sucks.”

Laasya Ravipati

Temple University

“It was the end of a decade, but the start of an age.”

- Taylor Swift

Prisha Ray

New York University

“There’s always time for the gym.”

Ronel Sahoo

Texas A&M University

“Don’t be careful, be confident.”

- Tom Cruise

Thrisha Sakamuri

University of Michigan

“no offense but...”

Zorawar Sandhu

Penn State University

Isha Satapathy

Virginia Commonwealth University

“Audentem forsque Venusque iuvat.”

Charan Sattiraju

Saint Louis University

“Get your money up not your funny up.”

Maanasa Schwartzkopf College of William and Mary

Benoy Sen

Sorbonne Université

Keertana Senthilkumar

The College of William and Mary

“We can see the flipside / what comes after this try?”

Prithvi Seri

University of Virginia

Nihal Shah

Penn State University

“thinking is for tomorrow.”

Saloni Shah

University of Maryland

“If my grandmother had wheels, she would’ve been a bike.”

Shruti Shah

University of Michigan

“I’m never gonna look back, no-ooh; these are gonna be the best years of my li-i-i-ife.”

Raheel Shaik

Virginia Commonwealth University

“All in all, we’re just bricks in the wall.”

Kevin Shan

Georgia Institute of Technology

Priya Shan

William & Mary

“everyday above ground is a great day, remember that.” - Pitbull

Ishaan Sharma

Penn State University

“Carpe diem.”

Neel Sharma

Texas A&M University

“The best path did not have to be quick, as long as it was correct.”

Ann Shen

Case Western Reserve University

“One of the worst performances of my career and they never doubted it for a second.” - Ferris Bueller

Jerry Sheng

Cornell University

“High school was fine, it was a walk in the park. Except the park was in flames.”

Saina Shibili

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Nothing kills like a life you didn’t live.”

Savara Shrivastava

William and Mary

“I have no idea what I’m doing, but I know I’m doing it really, really well.” - Andy Dwyer

Aditi Shukla

Virginia Tech

“Cause there were pages turned.”

Nandini Shyamala

Washington University in St. Louis

Rachael Sim

University of Virginia

“celtics in 7.”

Mira Singh

University of Chicago

“I’ve got some friends, some that I hardly know; But we’ve had some times, I wouldn’t trade for the world.” - Rise Again

Jawand Singh

College of William and Mary “Nothing is better than something.”

Aryamann Singh

University of Maryland

“Call me LeBron cuz I fold to Curry.”

Arav Singh

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“You’re welcome.”

Nathan Singhvi

Penn State University

Kaushik Siruvuri

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“I thought I got over procrastination until I had to pick a senior quote.”

Katherine Snelbecker

William and Mary

“I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser.”

Shahzad Sohail

University of Michigan

“Indeed, with every hardship comes ease.”

Austin Song

University of Virginia

Kevin Sridhar

University of Maryland

“Life can give you everything except failure, you need to seek failure, and only then can you truly live life.”

Sparsha Srinivasan

Virginia Commonwealth University

“It was for the plot.”

Rishi Sripathi

Purdue University

“You just need to believe. You must believe.” - Master Oogway

Hayden Stolzenberg

Hillsdale College

“All roads lead to Rome.”

Sean Su

Purdue University

“The only difference between genius and insanity is that people will eventually recognize genius, although long after marking them insane.”

Dhanbee Suh

College of William and Mary

“It’s really the little things that keep you going. And the bigger things remind you why.”

Anish Susarla

New York University

“It was all part of the plan”

- Reverse Pants Susarla

Anisha Talreja

University of Pennsylvania

Lynn Tao

Harvard University

“I would ask …”

Aaron Thapa

Penn State University

“Want to conjure confidence? Try dying your hair. Works wonders.”

Raghav Tirumale

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well. Maybe the 5 of spades?”

Johnathan Tong

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“it’s joever.”

Alexander Tong

University of Maryland

“Do your best and when it doesn’t seem like it’s enough, let fate do the rest.”

Samuel Turner

Rice University

“This is a world premiere.”

Conan Ugaz

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.”

Rushil Umaretiya

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“Who let him cook?’); DROP TABLE senior_quotes;--”

Suraj Vaddi

University of Virginia

Niyathi Vadlapatla

University of Virginia

“Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” - Ms. Frizzle

Sai Vaka

University of Maryland

“Are you some type of gaming god?” - Dr. J to me

Dante Valencia

University of Central Florida

“You know what they say: sticks and stones can damage your vital organs, so always wear body armor.”

Nikhil Vallikat

Case Western Reserve University “go to Myles Bao”

Anthony van Rheenen

University of Maryland

“There are many people out there trying, but they can never stop you from balling, my friend.”

Jay Varakala

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“That’s right, I finally uploaded my consciousness into my gaming setup” - Jetstream Sam

Aditya Vasantharao

Duke University

Hemang Vasu

University of Maryland

Akshay Vellore

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“College better not be harder than this...”

Yuktha Vemula

Carnegie Mellon University

“There’s so much that we did wrong and so much that we did right. All things end, but here we are beginning.”

Neha Venigalla

Indiana University

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life!”

Radha Vinayak

George Washington University

“We’re almost there & nowhere near it. All that matters is that we’re going!”

- Lorelai Gilmore

Aakash Vittala

William and Mary

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present.”

Jonathan Vu University of Maryland

“finally finished :)”

Jessica Wang

Carnegie Mellon University

“I wrote a better hour onto the page.” -- Ocean Vuong

Amy Wang University of Michigan

“I came. I slept. I left.”

Claire Wang

Cornell University

“What did the cow say to the other cow?”

Christal Wang

New York University

Victoria Wang

Dartmouth College

“Do it all with love.”

Luke Wang

Harvey Mudd College

“I still have not regained my sanity... or the lunchbox I lost last year.”

Tommy Williams

University of Virginia

“Notice when you’re happy and exclaim or murmur or think to yourself, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’” - Kurt Vonnegut

Erik Winston

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

“RIP to the proto lab’s 16year no ambulance streak.”

Kaia Wright

Purdue University

“There’s nothing we can’t do if we work hard, never sleep, and shirk all other responsibilities in our lives”

- Leslie Knope

Kaiden Wu

University of Chicago

“It’s ok if you’re not feeling so well, at the end of the day, it’s night.”

Caroline Xu

University of Virginia

“life is like a box of chocolates” - nom nom nom

Brian Xu

University of Virginia

“I’ve already forgotten most of freshman year.”

Maxx Yang

University of Maryland

“psst, hey psst, it’s a lot easier to break the rules than you think.”

Cindy Yang

University of Michigan

“the feminine urge to fail every STEM class.”

Alexander Yao

University of Virginia

“The only thing you can change is the present.”

Sophia Yao

University of Virginia

“Go to Nikhil Vallikat.”

Ananya Yarlagadda

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

“new beginnings”

- Frank Ocean

Zachary Yashar

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

“I finally got my National Merit commencement letter.”

Jessica Ye

Barnard College

“Hold onto the memories, and they’ll hold on to you.”

Emma Ylagan “...LOL”

Justin Yoo

University of Virginia

“God gives the hardest battles to His strongest soldiers, oh and follow @goons_lift.”

Sara Yoon

Duke University

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Sherry Yu

University of Chicago

“The goal is not to be right, it is to be wrong in interesting ways.”

Alex Yung

University of Virginia

“forever yung.”

Rohan Zaroo

Pennsylvania State University

“Life is like a gamble, you’ll never win without risks.”

Raymond Zeng

Georgia Institute of Technology

Davis Zetlan

Purdue University

“3/4 and 6/8 are the same number; covered up by Big Fraction.”

Angie Zhang

University of Pennsylvania

“Après moi, le déluge” - Louis XV

Athan Zhang

Princeton University

“Anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live” - Yui Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion

Edward Zhang

Dartmouth College

“Live without regrets, love your fate.”

Eric Zhang

Georgia Institute of Technology

“Find happiness in yourself.”

Ethan Zhang

University of Virginia “3.”

Megan Zhang

University of Pennsylvania “...but I’m tryna get 你号 码.”

Spencer Zheng

University of Maryland

“When I wrote this, only God and I knew what I was doing. Now, only God knows.”

Qirui Zhou

Purdue University

“It’s always winnable.”

Elise Zhu

Georgetown University

“Like mate, stop procrastinating.”

Isabella Zhu Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Two wrongs don’t make a right...”

Lilian Zhu

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“...but two Zhus always do.”

Recap

Richa a of

I had an older brother who went here and I was expecting certain things based on his experience, but that obviously turned [out] very different because COVID hit freshman year, and then we went online. For the first time I felt like I didn’t really know what to expect.

Once we got out of COVID in junior year starting we hit the ground running. I really started to trust myself that I could do it, that I could do it through junior year and get through senior year and college, it really made a world of difference. Because I think that doubt was definitely holding me back.

Once I realized that everybody was on their own path, I realized I’m on my own path too. I’m going to now spend my time understanding what I can do to make my impact on this world or make my dreams a reality rather than focusing on how other people are doing that for themselves. When you spend time focusing on yourself rather than comparing with others, you’re able to hone in on your interests and explore things that you really love.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

Richa Misra Senior

I think graduation signifies this transition into a time of uncertainty and freedom and independence. That’s something that I’m excited for.

PHOTO by Samir Misra REPORTING by Christina Lu