Diya Shah
Diya Shah, a senior currently attending John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, has accomplished many great feats in the span of four years. Being the president of Science National Honor Society and a member of both NHS and NEHS, she is without a doubt a very academically driven person. She will be graduating alongside the rest of the class of 2024 and is set to go to Columbia University in NYC at the start of the fall semester in 2024. She enjoys hanging out with her friends and watching Netflix in her free time. Diya participated in the JFK Dance Exchange and also played Tennis for three years throughout high school.
Starting High School
Despite starting high school online during the Covid -19 pandemic, Diya started her high school career strongly. Her sophomore year, which was her first “in-person” year of high school, was her favorite. She feels that her sophomore year was also like her freshman year in a way because it was her first year attending high school in person. Her junior year, which she describes as her most difficult year, consisted of hangouts with her friends and studying for her classes and exams. Her senior was her least favorite with many stressful nights as she applied for colleges. After college applications, she has been able to definitely relax and count the days until her graduation. She looks up to her science teachers, as they have all impacted her life in many ways.
Future
As the days towards graduation begin to creep around the corner, Diya begins to think about her new life as a college freshmen. Columbia has been a dream school of hers; she loves NYC and has always wanted to go to an ivy league school. She will be majoring in neuroscience and wants to go into the medical field, hopefully in cardiology or neurology. She hopes to gain many new friendships in college. She envisions herself doing research in stem, taking tons of classes and applying to medical schools eventually. It would be her dream to get into Columbia Medical School, but she also wouldn’t mind going to Rutgers Medical School or New Jersey Medical School.
Takeaway
Diya has worked very hard to get where she is. She will miss all of her friends once she graduates, especially those still in their junior year that she’ll be passing the torch to. She will also miss being able to conveniently hang out with her friends. If she could give one tip to incoming freshmen, it would be to remember balance. Balance between spending time with friends and family and also maintaining your grades and gpa. Diya will be off to do amazing things in the future and we at The Torch will all be rooting for her.
