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Schools

Whiz Kid: Vaikunt Ranganathan

After a successful and busy high school career at UMHS, Vaikunt will be going to Bucknell University in the fall.

No one can ever call Vaikunt Ranganathan lazy.

Ranganathan recently graduated from and made quite an impression during his high school days.  He was involved in a host of extracurricular activities while still finishing in the top five-percent of his graduating class.  For Ranganathan, it was all about time management during a busy four years at Upper Moreland.

“It’s did seem to take a while to get it under control,” said Ranganathan.  “There’s a lot of stuff to do, but I was keeping in mind the colleges I want to get into.  It was the end goal for me and it kind of kept me going.”

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Ranganathan was the co-captain of the bowling and tennis teams at Upper Moreland.  He was also a member of the and treasurer of the National Honor Society.  Ranganathan was a member of the German Honor Society and listed his German class as one of his favorites.  Ranganathan also volunteers with Unicorn and the Jewish Relief Fund and is enrolled in the Gifted Program.  The Unicorn program involved dropping off backpacks with school supplies to intermediate schools.  The Jewish Relief Fund was a once-a-month activity.  Ranganathan and other students would pack boxes of food and deliver them to local apartment complexes.

“I was able to be one of the drivers this year,” Ranganathan said.  “Every time we went, I would drive and bring a few people with me.  They would pack the boxes in the car and we would unload them at the apartments.  I did that every month I could because I really enjoyed it.”

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Despite his incredibly busy schedule, Ranganathan couldn’t have pictured himself sitting on the sidelines while his high school years went by.  He also knew a full resume of activities would help him when it came time to find the perfect college choice, which served as plenty of motivation over the past four years.

“I think I would kind of get bored if I didn’t do a lot of the stuff that I do,” Ranganathan said.  “I just really enjoy a lot of the things I do.  I guess it was a combination of enjoying the things I do and having a better college resume.”

Even with a host of activities, Ranganathan was always able to keep his priorities in order.  No matter how many activities or work hours were on his schedule, Ranganathan knew his studies would have to come first.

“Grades were always the most important,” said Ranganathan.  “If I knew I had a couple of big tests coming together the same day, I would request off for work so I could study.  It was tough, but I really enjoyed some of my classes.  I think I was successful academically this year, but it took a lot of hard work.”

Ranganathan is now looking forward to the future.  He is headed to Bucknell University next fall and will major in pre-med.  His originally had his sites set on neurosurgery, but a summer experience at Drexel has allowed Ranganathan to weigh his options in his major.

“I used to think neurosurgery was an interesting for me to look at,” Ranganathan said.  “I went to a mini-medical camp the summer after my junior year at Drexel for five weeks.  I got to see a lot of things there.  It showed me a lot of what the medical field is all about.  I do know I want to focus on pre-med.”

Whatever Ranganathan chooses to pursue in the medical field, chances are he will be keeping quite busy.

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