In Europe, it is often tradition that students take a year off to explore Europe after highschool. From seeing the beautiful mountains to living in youth hostels, this year can often be the most formative and adventurous of their lives.
Though Shaurya Jha might not be a highschool graduate in Europe, he is a freshman at Revere High School (RHS) who is on an adventure of his own. He seeks to learn more about the world around him by learning numerous languages, immersing himself within cultures and using history as his guide, while being a tennis player with a driving passion.
Jha did not start off his life at Revere but rather has lived in many different places. He has now permanently moved to Revere and has found his own place at RHS.
“I was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and lived in Winston-Salem, NC for the first seven years of my life. I have no brothers and sisters and my family is from Nepal. I am a proud Hindu. In 2017 I moved to Springfield, Missouri. I did not particularly like Springfield, and I moved to Ohio in December of 2020. I love the friends I have made here and prefer it to Missouri,” Jha said
Jha over the years has developed many hobbies that he explores in his free time.
“My passions [and] hobbies are learning about different cultures, geography, different languages, world history, tennis and swimming,” he said.
When it comes to the world, Jha has a peculiar interest in its geography and history. This drives him to actively learn more about geography by playing fun activities in his free time.
“I am more of a geography person than a history person. In either case I do not like American history nor American geography, for both I prefer world/global. I like learning about different cities and countries and memorising them. I play a lot of geography games such as Geoguessr,” Jha said.
Jha is also fluent in and currently learning a plethora of languages and writing systems, skills that are particularly useful when traveling or just trying to read text on foreign products.
“I am currently learning French, and Dutch seriously. I can read/write in the Latin , Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Devanagari, Hiragana, Katakana, and Korean alphabet scripts. I have been learning how to read/write Gujarati but am not there yet,” Jha said.
Jeff Fry, an RHS social studies teacher and the Academic Challenge coach, took note of Jha’s knowledge of the world around him and his application of this knowledge in class.
“He knows a lot of the things that we are studying before we actually are doing it… I can tell that he has a lot of knowledge about geography as well when I ask questions and he knows places and capitals of countries that a lot of other kids aren’t aware exist,” Fry said.
After school Jha participates in Academic Challenge where he uses his knowledge of history and geography to succeed and learn more about his passions.
“I have been on the [Academic Challenge] team since 7th grade, the first year it is an option. I have done very well in geography questions and history too… I am not too good at other subjects like science and math. One of, if not my most favourite extracurricular of all time,” he said.
Fry also directly sees his knowledge as he competes in Academic Challenge and recognizes his potential to become a central part of the team.
“I have seen him perform well and I’m expecting big things from him in the next couple years because we need people that remember their history and remember their geography,” he said
In the meanwhile, Jha likes to stay in shape by playing tennis and swimming, which he competes in for Revere.
“I have been playing tennis since around 3rd grade. I have preferred it to swimming since it is more fun to play. I am on the junior varsity team and so far I have been undefeated in all my matches,” Jha said.
Jha’s diligence in academia has been noticed and recognized by his teachers. Dave Heideman, the head coach of the boys tennis team, has seen Jha’s formality and diligence not just in school, but on the court.
“He is a mature student in terms of his character, shows up on time, is very enthusiastic, he works hard, he does everything that as a coach you would want from an athlete and he’s skilled as well,” he said.
As time goes on, Heideman expects to see Jha as a central component of the team and to keep on growing.
“I expect that he will be an important part of the team and as he continues to develop, [he] could be a part of varsity,” Heideman said.
At one moment a student who wishes to explore the world, taking in as much knowledge as he can, and next an athlete who is dedicated to his craft, Jha puts forth effort to succeed in and out of the classroom.
