For senior Aarthi Venkatraman, in this year’s graduation speech, she plans to keep things real with the rest of the senior class of 2024. 

Aarthi identified a common pitfall among typical graduation speeches — chalking up everyone’s individual journeys in high school to a simple, “yay, we made it!”. But this year, Aarthi hopes to be honest. 

“I don’t know everyone in this class,” Aarthi said. “I know anyone would feel an artificial need to say, ‘Every single one of you has helped me get here. We’re all in this.’ But, I want to highlight the fact that everyone has their own journey throughout high school. You know how you got here, and you know how you made it.”

Within her diverse positions on campus, Aarthi has shown her strength as a leader and a collaborator, stepping out of her comfort zones.

“I think I’ve gotten better at trusting myself and reaching out to people for help,” Aarthi said. “It’s really nice getting to interact with different kinds of people that I wouldn’t have talked to before.” 

Broken Box Royalty is a position that is awarded to someone who represents the true heart and spirit of Broken Box.

Fellow Broken Box member senior Chloe Eshagh explained that Aarthi also shows honesty in her humility and vulnerability towards others.

“She’s so smart and so talented but also incredibly humble,” Chloe said. “Even though she has done amazing things, you don’t feel bad about yourself.” 

In Aarthi’s Advanced Science Investigation (ASI) class, LAHS’s science research capstone, her  teacher, Tory Johnson, has witnessed Aarthi’s willingness to stay genuine in the realms of science.

“She does such a good job of making her [project] understandable,” Johnson said. “She can talk to [an expert in the field], or she can talk to somebody who has a very basic level of knowledge.” 

Aarthi found her passion for helping others, not hesitating to teach her fellow peers in her Advanced Placement Biology class, or offering solutions and questions to other research projects in ASI. 

“I know it’s cheesy, but I would want to be remembered as a nice person,” Aarthi said. “I want to be remembered as having stood up for someone, or someone who comforted others.”