Mahir Rana is a senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School. He has been lead sound for many school events and has been involved in the school for all four years. In this article, he reflects on his past four years at JFK. He’s always giving other people the microphone, but now it’s his turn to be in the spotlight.

What was the most valuable part of your high school experience?

Mahir:  Well, I think being on the sound team was really crucial to my high school experience ’cause it let me be part of a lot of events that I wouldn’t have been part of otherwise. Like dance exchange is a really good one, I’d never really been interested in dance before this, and even to watch it, I never would’ve watched it, but because I had to help run it, and I saw all the performances, and I saw all of the people, and saw what went into it, I appreciated it a lot more and I feel like now I’m way more interested in dance. Same thing when it comes to the play, same thing when it comes to the guitar concert, same thing when it comes to the lip-sync battle or the fashion show. Like I never would’ve been interested in these things, and I´ve met so many new people that like, I would not be the same person if it wasn’t for them. 

What pushed you to join sound crew?

Well, freshman year, Rida [Kadri] actually messaged me, and her friend was a junior and she was on lights and [she] asked Rida to do lights and they were looking for a freshman to do sound and she was like, “Hey, they need someone to do sound, would you want to do it?” And I didn’t know what it was at all, so I got the guy’s number, and then my first ever event was the Spanish Honor Society Induction Practice, and I was so confused ’cause I didn’t know anyone there and I’m just standing there and my first thing to do was literally just putting the projector screen up and down, and that’s how I started. And I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, I didn’t know the responsibilities but as I went along, I met all the people in sound and lights and I became a lot more comfortable with them, and I started having a lot more fun because it gave me something to look forward to. Like after the school day ended, now I can go to the play, now I can go to these events.

What was your favorite event that you did sound for?

Favorite event, that’s actually hard. Honestly, I think Annie last year was very fulfilling for me. ‘Cause the play was really good, the people were really good. Last year especially instead of this year, cause last year was my first time actually leading sound. And I had a lot more responsibilities then. So it was fresh for me cause I came from freshman year where I was watching all these upperclassmen handle everything and I was kinda just on the side. Now junior year, I’m calling the shots, I’m making the decisions, I’m telling people what to do and all that. So it was a big step up for me.

Is there anything you wish you did differently in high school?

In high school, I think, ironically, I still think there’s more stuff I could’ve done. I feel like there’s more sports. I didn’t play a single sport, I wish I played more sports. There are definitely more clubs I could’ve been a part of, more leadership opportunities I could’ve been part of. And just generally I wish I talked to more people, cause I think when you come from middle school, you’re used to not talking to people and youre like, “I’m me, these are my friends, that’s all.” But everyone’s just here to be in school. If you’re nice to teachers, if you’re nice to students, even if you think they hate you, if you’re just nice to them, some people will open up and you can make a lot of new experiences that way.

Do you have a faculty role model in the school?

Honestly probably, Ms. Algier. She teaches physics and chem. I think she only teaches chemistry right now. But I had her for physics last year and the thing I liked about her, just having her as a teacher she was always positive, she was always very cheery, and she always brightened up everyone’s day. And she was able to help you and push you in the right direction without seeming condescending or mean, and I really respected her because she was able to joke around with me, but she never shut me down. If I was ever crossing the line, she always pulled me aside and told me “Hey you’re doing too much,” right? And that kind of made me aware of the way I was acting in her class and in general. And [she] told me “if you want to deal with people in the real world, you need to be respectful with them and you need to be straightforward.” And I look up to her a lot and I think that’s inspired me to be a better person.

What is the biggest difference between yourself now, and yourself in freshman year?

Freshman year, again, I was definitely a lot more closed off and my whole worldview was just my issues. And now I realize that everyone has their problems, everyone has their own issues, everyone is their own person. And that it’s stupid for me to sit there as a freshman and be like, “Oh, everyone hates me” and just sit all day and not talk to anyone. But now I want to talk to as many people as possible, I want to help as many people as possible, I want to do as many things as I can. Because high school is only four years, after this you’re not gonna remember most of the things, so might as well make the most of it.

So you do a lot of events for the school, you’re in choir, you do all that. What is the key to managing your time?

Time management honestly I think taking on more responsibilities helps you a lot more than you think. So when I have only one club or only one- I think most people can relate to this, when you have like one homework assignment, you’re going to procrastinate ’till the end. But if you have a bunch of homework assignments, you have somewhere to be, you have a job, you got sports, then you’re just magically somehow able to segment everything. So my main thing was: I tried to fill my schedule with as many things as possible and then segment my time. So after school I have to do this, this, this, and then I have to go to this place, and then I have this, this, this, this. So I try to write down everything I need to do and try to fill my day, so there’s not dead time.

Do you have any advice for incoming freshmen?

Like I said, say “yes” to as many things as possible. Join clubs, join sports, talk to a lot of people. Try to be open, cause then you’ll find what you like and don’t like. You don’t want to miss out on opportunities that are unique to high school. 

What are your plans after high school?

 I plan to major in computer science at Rutgers, I also look forward to doing air force ROTC, ’cause I want to join as an officer after I graduate. Basically, my plans are just to get into the military, like get that experience, ’cause that’s something I kind of wanted to do. I feel like it’ll help keep me disciplined and give me a lot of work experience. And then once I leave the military, then I can get a regular comp-sci job, and basically, I just further my career in that. I want to do mainly cybersecurity stuff and the air force has a lot of opportunities for cyber work. 

Do you feel like you are prepared for your future, and do you feel like JFK has prepared you good enough for your future?

I mean, it’s hard to tell because you obviously don’t know what the future holds. I think JFK has prepared me enough, in the sense that a lot of things that have happened, for everyone in the past four years. And it definitely changed you as a person and it’s interesting realizing that like, I walk through these halls, I’ve been walking through these halls for so many years, but every year that I walk through, I’m a different person. And a lot of the struggles that you face in high school, they’re pretty unique to high school and at the end of the day, you realize that high school struggles aren’t that deep but I think it’s good because it gives you a playground to mess up in. Like you can mess up in high school, you can have drama in high school, you can struggle in high school. At the end of the day, it’s not messing with your real life. Once you graduate it gets a lot more serious, but I think it’s good that high school gives you this place where you can test the waters of being an adult but also still getting to be a kid.