Category: Extra Curricular

Everyone Needs to Be a Santa

December 2024

Every year, I set aside a portion of my savings to fulfill a handful of children’s needs and wishes. For the past two years, I’ve participated in an event organized by Things of My Very Own, Inc. (TOMVO), a local nonprofit dedicated to providing crisis intervention services and essential resources to children in emergency situations.

This year, I picked up four wish tags to fulfill—gifts for a 16-year-old, two 14-year-olds, and a 4-year-old. Their wishes were simple yet profound: shampoo, hairbrushes, sanitary products—basic necessities that most of us take for granted. It’s heartbreaking to think that these are the things they wish to receive for Christmas, items that should be readily available to every child.

In addition to these tags, I learned for the first time that there is a group of children in my own school district in need of basic items like pants, warm hats, and bedding. So I volunteered further and help gather some of these essential items as well.

It’s a chilling reminder of how many children are in crisis—and how their numbers are growing. These kids aren’t asking for luxuries or toys; they’re asking for comfort, warmth, and dignity.

This holiday season, I hope we can all find it in our hearts to give back in any way we can, no matter how small. And more than that, I wish for a world where no child has to hope for shampoo or a warm hat as their Christmas gift—a world where every child has the security, care, and the opportunities they deserve.

When every stroke counts…

Shen Holiday Invitational

December 2024

The holiday competition for the New York Upstate Region, aka Section 2 high schools, was held at Shenendehowa High School on December 14th. With 19 regional schools in attendance, it was a festive day of fierce competition and fast lanes.

As one of the newer members on the team, just four weeks into training, I raced freestyle in the 50- and 100-yard events. In the 50-yard race, I placed 56th out of 125 swimmers—not too shabby for someone still perfecting their turns!

Here are the key takeaways from the day:

  • Flip and Turn Like a Pro: Flip turns are a game-changer. Every fraction of a second matters, and smoother, faster turns can make a huge difference, especially in longer races.
  • Start with Power: A strong jump off the blocks sets the tone for the entire race. It’s all about making that first move count.
  • Finish Like a Champ: On the final stroke, no stalling—just reach for that pad like the timer owes you money.
  • Every Stroke Matters: Whether you’re leading or chasing, the race isn’t over until you touch the wall. Keep pushing, because anything can happen in those last few strokes.

It was a day full of lessons and inspiration. With some tweaks and training, I’m excited to dive back in and climb up that leaderboard. Watch out, Section 2, this is just the beginning!

How do you butter your bread?

December 2024

Today, I had the chance to chat with one of our Social Studies teachers, Michael Dickerson. He recently started hosting a series of table conversations during his free periods at school. He mentioned that some days he plans to invite guest speakers to join him, while on others, he’ll simply sit and chat with students about social studies and life in general.

Our conversation drifted toward senior year, college applications, and future plans. Amidst the stacks of social studies books on his table, I noticed a collection of Dr. Seuss books. Curious, I asked him about them.

He explained that Dr. Seuss often incorporates social lessons into his whimsical rhymes, crafting stories that entertain while teaching important messages. He handed me The Butter Battle Book to read, promising it would be worth my time.

What can I say? I really enjoyed it. The book is an allegory of the Cold War, illustrating the senseless escalation of a conflict between two groups over something as trivial as how they butter their bread. It depicts an absurd arms race that spirals toward inevitable destruction, with Zooks and Yooks divided by a wall and endlessly inventing more destructive devices.

It left me thinking—why don’t we make every politician read this book?

Making New Waves

December 2024

I’ve always been drawn to the water—whether it’s rowing, swimming, snorkeling, or even just relaxing in a tub. According to my parents, my first swimming adventure was at 7 months old in the Aegean Sea, and judging by the picture of me snorkeling at age 9, it’s clear that my love for the water has only grown.

During summers, my dad and I take this passion to another level. We swim 2.5 miles every day, starting with a jump into the sea, swimming to the next town, stopping for a quick breakfast, and then swimming back to our apartment. It’s become a tradition that combines endurance, bonding, and a deep appreciation for the open water.

This winter, I decided to push myself further. Instead of spending the season rowing indoors, I joined the swim team to try something new and challenge myself / make new waves. For the past three weeks, I’ve been practicing six days a week for three hours a day, enduring intensive drills that have tested my limits.

Today marked my first official swim meet. I raced in four freestyle events, finishing in the middle of the pack—3rd or 4th in each event. For my first time competing, I’m proud of how far I’ve come and excited to keep improving.

  • 50 meters free style
  • 100 meters free style
  • 4 x 50 meters relay
  • 4 x 100 meters relay

Keep calm, Go to prom!

May 2024

Every year, our coaches would gather the team and deliver a speech emphasizing that state championships are just as crucial as prom. They would then urge the team to wrap up the festivities early and head home.

Why? Because our school prom day has always been on the same weekend as the state championships.

This year it was my turn to listen to the same advice both from my parents and coaches. Luckily I am going to prom with one of my teammates. We both will be racing on Saturday before prom and will also have races on Sunday early morning so neither of us would be leaving the other behind in order to get enough sleep.

On Saturday I woke up at 6am, spent a full day at the regatta, and came home to quickly dress up for prom. At night I got back about 11pm, to wake up again at 6am for another day of racing.

Siena College Programming Contest

April 2024

Who wouldn’t love to solve a puzzle and eat free pizza?

This year was the 36th annual Siena College High School Programming Contest. We had 4 teams representing our high school.

Contest was 3 hours and 7 challenges. Each team was free to write the code either in Python or Java. Only 2 teammates are allowed near computers to write and debug, while others have to stay in another room to solve and design the next challenge.

When one of our teammates got sick after school, we were left only with 3 people including me. So, we had only one of us to write code, while the other 2 worked on solving the challenge and designing the solution. We managed to complete 3 challenges successfully, and almost finished the fourth one. At the end of the night none of the teams even completed all 7 challenges so our result puts us in the top half of the contestants, which is good considering we competed with one less teammate.

Good news is the winning team was from my highschool. Go Nisky!!!

Want to know how challenging those puzzles were? See the image below:

Notes from another college trip

April 2024

Junior year, Spring Break means another college trip time. This time we were west bound within New York state. 4 colleges, 2 days.

  • Binghamton University
  • RIT
  • Cornell University
  • Syracuse University

Now that I am more experienced, here is a list of my observations and comparisons.

  • You need to visit a couple colleges to be able to understand the differences, decide what you would like to look for, or what to ask.
  • Most colleges in NY prefer that you commit to a degree when you are applying, or when you talk to their admissions officers they advise you to do so, whereas in the south most colleges say that you will be admitted to a school. Take courses first year and then apply for a degree within your school, based on your first year courses and grades.
  • There is a high chance of rain or cold weather in April up north, while it is sunny and warm in February in the south.
  • Sun makes things shine, and look more welcoming.
  • Colleges in the north offer swags to visitors… Shopping bags, key chains, bottles, stickers, and lots and lots of brochures.
  • You meet with interesting people, possibly see other prospects or most importantly the actual students around the campus.
  • Backpacks with bubble straps are a must in Duke. You can be a hippy in NC State, or a crossover between artsy and nerdy in RIT.
  • Don’t forget to nod your head when an old guy with an angry looking dog stops you at Chapel Hill and asks your pledge not to apply to Duke.
  • Eating at the college cafeteria is another good experience. Binghamton’s Tully has Earth’s best fried chicken and Cornell has the best mussels.
  • Binghamton is a dust-free college. Not sure how they manage but literally there is no dust, or dirt anywhere. Or no dropped, or forgotten waste, food wrapper or anything anywhere. Do they have hidden cleaning elves?
  • Despite being more clean, Binghamton’s school and dorms look underwhelming compared to that of a private school like RIT.
  • Every college visit includes the part where they show you the blue emergency lights, which seem to only be used by a female student who sprained her ankle and needed help. Maybe boys with sprained ankles prefer to hop around rather than calling help?
  • Cornell has a waterfall near the visitor center. They have a colorful canoe rack next to the waterfall with no visible blue lights around. To me this feels like trust.

Summer Program at Sabanci University

June 2023

I attended the Summer Program at Sabanci University in Istanbul. The program was designed for High School students who would like to take college level courses and experience college life. The courses were in English, taught by actual college professors. They have shortened and condensed the actual introductory course to a 2-week curriculum, 10-hours total.

There were 700 high school students attending the Summer Program at the same time as me. Each student had selected their own 3 courses to follow. We stayed at the dorms, ate at the cafeterias, and had our own daily course program to follow. Each night after dinner time, they had some activities for kids to entertain like live music, DJs, cinemas, or sports events.

It was really a good experience. I made new friends, some from the US like me, some across other parts of the world, and some from Turkey.

I completed the following courses:

Psyschology
Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence
Entrepreneurship & Innovation