Senior Vedant Chopra took pride in his background. Wanting to participate in his culture with others, he was the treasurer for the Hindi Club. He also saw himself as a budding engineer. He wanted to find other clubs that advance his knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“I believe that my heritage as Indian is very important to me because it defines my identity and culture,” Chopra said. “I also find myself in the stem field. In the future I want to be an engineer, so I am in a lot of clubs like robotics and math club which help prepare me for a career as an engineer.”

Chopra got his interest in mathematics from his mother, Pre-AP Algebra 2 and CP Precalculus teacher Reena Chopra. He also benefited from other perks of having a parent on campus.

“It is definitely awesome to have a mom as a teacher because she has a room open every day with a microwave and hot food,” Chopra said. “Sometimes I have to fulfil my sonly duty. I have carried things to and from her room to help her set up for the day. It is awesome, but it can be stressful at times. In my sophomore year, she taught me, and I was also in world history. When I got a bad grade, my mom got angry at me, but I had to keep on doing my other work for classes. Having her at school is really fun, but it can be really stressful.”

In his free time, Chopra deepens his experience in the STEM field. He experiments with electronics and crafts various knick-knacks.

“I really like to sit at my desk and make stuff,” Chopra said. “One time, I made a speaker from a circuit board, wires and resistors with a soldering iron. One time, I took a wooden block and whittled it into a chess piece. Really, I love doing anything that involves making something, because I am motivated by the sense of accomplishment that I get.”