Highland Park High School offers a wide variety of clubs for students to delve into, both in STEM and artistic fields. However, it requires a particular kind of person to be able to commit to both. Tejasvi Venkat, better known as Teji, is a current senior and a stellar example of this. Despite starting high school during the brunt of the pandemic, Teji has established herself as an active member and leader in several clubs and a pillar in the school community.
Teji holds leadership positions in Band and Robotics while participating in a diverse medley of clubs including the acapella group Amandala, Jazz Band, Dead Center, Model UN, Drama Club, Science Bowl, and the girls’ soccer team. Among these extracurriculars, Teji manages to maintain a balance with her personal life, still finding time to enjoy the outdoors. While it seems like a lot, Teji notes that her extracurriculars “all connect to her personal life and academics,” making them easier to navigate.
Teji’s interest in both the arts and sciences started at a young age, but entering high school only broadened them further. Her passion for music in particular has become a deep-rooted aspect of Teji’s life as she plays saxophone in both the school ensemble and jazz band, a lasting hobby she picked up in freshman year. Teji’s passion for both Band and music as a whole is tangible through her leadership as Band President, devoted practice after school, and unrelenting commitment to learning various genres of music and instruments. After high school, she intends to continue playing saxophone and expresses interest in starting a band of her own.
While music is a strong part of Teji’s life, she makes room for the sciences as well, particularly robotics and engineering. As a leader of the Robotics Club, Teji codes and constructs robots, along with participating in competitions with other schools. Robotics has blossomed into a core part of Teji’s high school experience, particularly because of the community she has found in it. Teji highlights a fond moment in a recent robotics competition where despite their robot short-circuiting, the team had a snowball fight outside. She describes the event fondly because even though the team encountered a setback, “everyone was still happy.”
Teji’s positive outlook allows her to thrive not only in Robotics but throughout her high school experience. While she participates in numerous clubs, Teji emphasizes the importance of doing things that you genuinely enjoy, advising other students, “Make sure you do things because you like it and not for others, your parents, or college,” and that “it is a lot easier to be busy when you like what you’re doing.”
Now in her final year of high school, Teji reflects on fond memories of her academic career, mentioning that all of her club activities were “super fun” and she enjoyed the ability to “apply her academic knowledge and work with different mediums” in a unique school environment. A reliable, kind, and passionate student, Teji has proved herself to be a highly capable, multifaceted learner and leader.