Friendswood High School Valedictorian Ganesh Venu and Salutatorian Asiya Siddiqi sat down with us to discuss what it takes to be on top, moving beyond academics and sharing their incredible hearts for family and people which has motivated them to be where they are today.
Friendswood High School Valedictorian Ganesh Venu and Salutatorian Asiya Siddiqi sat down with us to discuss what it takes to be on top, moving beyond academics and sharing their incredible hearts for family and people which has motivated them to be where they are today.
Speaker 1 And this may blow your minds, but I just started playing with Chad. So is that something that you all have played with, that you've been, you know. By the way, I just want to say this has been out for. Speaker 2 Just so it's incredible. Speaker 1 So the fact that we're just now getting on to what is this thing called chat greeting. Speaker 3 That's my old person. Speaker 4 Typing with one. Speaker 3 Finger. Yeah. Yeah. Is that something. Speaker 1 That y'all have been playing around with that you you. Is that. Is it a little touchy subject? What is how this chat got kind of feel. Speaker 5 So personally, I'm not very familiar with, like, the way that I works, like with my personal computer. I guess I'm more in the scapula. Speaker 4 Side because I. Speaker 5 The only I haven't used Chad. Djibouti specifically, but I hear so many stories of people using it. And you can like ask the joke or it can like manipulate something. But I've used other A.I. that are like that have like specific purposes. Like there's ones that like, you can have it can make you like a slide deck. Like, if you want something for the forest, then it can make you like a forest slide deck. Speaker 5 Or if you're organizing something, it's like the most optimal way to organize something. So like those specific I, I really like use sometimes, but I'm not, I don't have a really. Speaker 1 Basic. Speaker 4 Tendency to know. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 1 What about you? Speaker 2 I actually have a kind of funny story with. With Chad Djibouti. So in debate class all the time, we would ask questions to try to see which questions were the answer Wrong. And so me and and me and some of my friends, like, go in and marry him. And we would just, like, play around with it. And sometimes it just gives wrong answers. Speaker 2 So our goal is to try to figure out those wrong answers, and that's what we would do with it. But I mean, that's kind of the only interaction I've had with it. Chad Djibouti, really. I've seen it like used in in debate for writing extreme speeches. That's one thing that you can use it for, especially for just prep or anything like that, or just for like data collection purposes. Speaker 2 But other than that, that's the only time I've actually use it mainly as just kind of a joke, trying to figure out like, No. Speaker 3 I can't, you know, your sense of which is below your line. Speaker 1 So it all answers. Speaker 4 Right in this window. Like when the humans can answer something. Speaker 2 How can we will look at celebrities and like some information about it sometimes is wrong. Yeah. Like the funniest things. Right. So it would just give us basically the rumors of the celebrities, which we know maybe are debunked or anything like that. And so that's how we would like play around with in debate class. Speaker 6 But are you sure they're about, oh, are we sure that Michael Jackson's dead? Speaker 3 That's a whole other show. Speaker 4 I might be for a conspiracy theory. I fear. Speaker 3 For them. Speaker 1 Well, welcome to the brainiest podcast of all time. I'm your host, Dana, along with my super smart sidekick, Kelsey Girls. And today we have a supernova of intellect in our midst. Joining us are the valedictorian, Ganesh Venu, and salutatorian Isaiah Siddiqi of Friendswood High School, who have honed their brains to peak academic prowess. So without further ado, let's strap on our thinking caps and embark on this intellectual odyssey with our esteemed guests here. Unknown I know you can do that. Speaker 1 Welcome, you two. So glad you're here. Speaker 4 Thank you. That was such. Speaker 5 An amazing introduction. I really was. Speaker 3 Glad you liked it. Speaker 1 You're vice chair GPT. You wrote it. Wow. Speaker 4 I was going to say straight from the heart. But you did. Speaker 1 Well, one thing that's good to learn is what your heart is. Yeah, but it's. Speaker 3 It's as good. Speaker 1 As it's as good as the prompt you put in. So I literally put in create a podcast introduction for super intellectual students, our valedictorian, salutatorian of Friendswood High School and that's what it came up with. Speaker 3 Yeah. Wow. Speaker 6 Actually, if you follow friends, what I see on social media, go look at the last few social media captions, because those are also generated by chatbot. Speaker 4 Usually. Speaker 1 And you will see a pretty drastic difference. Speaker 3 From before and after. Way better emojis. Way more hashtags. Yes. All right. Speaker 6 Oh, it's it's brilliant. It's really. Speaker 1 Cool. So I would suggest you to smart kids. Speaker 2 How to get traction. Speaker 1 How smart it would be with, my gosh, your level of being able to put the prompts in. No telling. Speaker 4 Well, I. Speaker 3 Good, good. Speaker 1 So let me just start off today. Let's start off with basically, I just introduced you, but telling us some of the schools you applied to. Okay. The schools that you got into and it's okay. You can maybe say some schools that you didn't get into or maybe there aren't any of those. And then where are you going to be going and what you're going to be majoring in? Speaker 1 Let's talk about that. Ganesh, you want to start off? Speaker 2 Sure. I applied to around 8 to 10 schools. I got rejected in like seven of them. Seven or eight of them rejected or waitlisted. Kind of the same thing. Speaker 1 But nine I would say they're not the same thing. Correct. Rejection is a hard no. Waitlist is we want you and maybe. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 I guess you would think better. It wasn't a yes. So therefore in your mind you're like. Speaker 2 Yes, but I did get into one of my one of my actually my, my dream school. Really awesome. Which is, which is Stanford. And so I was really happy about that. If I, if, if we were planning to go to college, that was my that was my plan too, and sound kind of worked out. We're moving to California because my dad got a job offer and other personal things. Speaker 2 And so because of that, I was like, Oh, that might be that might be what's what's right. Speaker 5 Yeah. Wow. Divine intervention. Yeah, that's. Speaker 1 Right. That's exactly right. And yeah, what about you? Speaker 5 So I guess it's like the opposite because I only applied to like or. Speaker 4 Schools. Speaker 5 And they're all in Texas. Like, I, my goals are to stay, like, close to home and I really feel like I could thrive better. And so my top choice was U.T. And obviously. Speaker 4 I go, Yeah, I'm there for it. Speaker 5 And I just love the environment there. And I feel that it would be super encouraging for the new personality that I can adopt, not that. Speaker 4 I would adopt a new personality, but it could. Speaker 5 I know I can make a lot of friends and get involved with organizations and they have like Dell Medical School, and that's something I'm really interested in doing in the future. And so I'll be majoring in neuroscience and trying to expand my own brain. Speaker 1 So so I entire team told me and tell me, your major. Speaker 2 I'm going to be majoring in bioengineering or human biology, one of the two. Those are my two passions. And first, here you go. In declared second years, when you get two and you get to declare, it's natural. Speaker 1 So that's when you you're pretty sure. But it could be something in the in your first year that kind of you didn't realize of. Speaker 2 Course absolutely yeah that's what actually is very special about about certain schools that allow you to go in undeclared first year like Stanford and other schools that you get to kind of play around and to see where you where your passions lie. Speaker 6 Before you move on to. I have to say, I kind of love that you were able to share that you applied to eight schools and not not all of the paths worked out because you being the valedictorian, I feel like that should be encouraging, you know, to others to have like that even the the top of the top sometimes, you know, it's like you're going to end up wherever you're supposed to end up, and you just have to be able to trust that. Speaker 2 So I destroyed what my parents told me and also what I really believe. Like you'll end up where you're destined to go. Yeah, that's a really big they philosophy of mine too. Speaker 6 That's awesome. Speaker 5 One of my friends told me this quote, and I just I love this quote and I think it really applies here is rejection is redirection. And that's. Speaker 1 Like. That's so true. That is so true. You know, so many times when we're rejected or we're, you know, we think we want to go a certain direction and we're turned down it becomes so personal, like we start to hear those voices of we're not good enough, we're not I shouldn't have taken that risk or I shouldn't have done that. Speaker 1 And so many times I believe as I've gotten older, how else can for me believe God saying, Dana, I didn't want you to go that direction. But I that's the only way I can tell you that it's no here but yes here. And so, you know, don't we just beat ourselves down? Yeah. And it's it's what a waste of energy and time, because it's like I didn't want you to go left. Speaker 1 I wanted you to go this way. So just stop doing that to yourself. Speaker 6 Yeah. I remember when Sean and I were first dating, he used to say me like this. My husband uses send me, like, motivational speakers or sermons in the mornings. And there was one guy, I think it was a TED talk. He spoke on rejection. Or when things don't go the way that we think and how sometimes it's actually God protecting us from things and shared a story of a man who usually his wife took the kids to school, but she had an early day at work and so he was supposed to take the kids to school. Speaker 6 He was really irritated by it. And he ended up because had a flight to catch. And so he ended up missing his flight. And it was one of the planes on 911 that was so that would have been why he would have died. So it's like sometimes you just can't see it in the moment. He was frustrated by this thing happening. Speaker 6 But what was he being protected from? So anyway, I loved that it just stuck with me. I don't even remember a single other thing that Sean ever sent, but I remember that well. Speaker 1 It's just a good way to live, right? It's a good thing to remember that, you know, if we start getting down about something, you know, hey, there's a plan and it's a you know, it's a well-designed plan. So congratulations on your acceptance and we can't wait to see. I thank you for what you do. So let's just for a second talk about ranking. Speaker 1 So you find out at the end of your freshman year where you kind of fall in ranking if you're one, if you're 328 or whatever. Sorry, I won't start crying or anything. I'm thinking, I don't remember. And I did not do that back in the day. If they did, I didn't get it. Speaker 3 So yeah. So. Speaker 1 So your freshman year, you're given at the end in May a ranking. So do you remember what your rankings were in Ash? What was your rank? Speaker 2 I was, I was one. Speaker 1 You were one one. Speaker 4 That was two. Speaker 1 And you were two. Yeah. So. Okay, this is fascinating to me. So I do your kind of star texting each other and like, what number were you? Speaker 5 I just remember, like, we have this group of kids that are so like minded in our grade and they're so intelligent and they're amazing personalities, and it's just like this little group, and we're all at the top of the class and it's honestly a really there. You know, other schools have kind of toxic environments at the top, like with rank. Speaker 2 I'll even say three generations below. Speaker 3 Generations below us. Speaker 5 Above us, whatever about our grade. Speaker 4 Yes, I'm. Speaker 5 Positive and supportive. I have never felt like pressured or like toxic. You know, I don't know sayings, but yeah, I just. Speaker 1 Zero had a. Speaker 5 We were super happy. Yeah. Speaker 1 Now, at some point I need you to really be honest with yourself and our audience of millions of people. At some point were you like, How can I not garnish out of when right can I do? How can I make him go a certain direction where I can just squeeze in. Speaker 6 My trip amount at the last minute. Speaker 4 Was no. Okay. So I'll preface this by saying that Ganesh is literally the most. Speaker 5 Humble valedictorian, anyone. Speaker 4 The sweetest. Speaker 5 Amazing. And so it's funny, whenever I tell people that I'm salutatorian, I'm with number two, the first thing they say is, what do I got to do? Number one. Speaker 4 Like who? Who am I like getting out of here. And I'm like, What? Speaker 5 But yeah, it's just one thing I did is that like freshman year I played tennis and then I didn't unders. They don't really teach you how GPA works unless you ask the right questions. And so I was just like, okay, I don't know how else to do it. And so I actually quit tennis, not purely for rank, but also because, you know, I wanted to explore like other ways and move my body. Speaker 5 And that's when I got into weightlifting, which is like my favorite thing ever. But yeah, I dropped tennis and then I enrolled in more AP classes and I thought they would boost my rank. Speaker 4 You know, it helped me become a better person. It didn't really rank, But. Speaker 5 Yeah, I did that. And we also both mean Ganesh and a couple other students. We also enrolled in the zero hour class for research and like science fair projects. And so I did enroll in that and I was like, That was great to get me going for my research through high school. Speaker 1 But no real plans to kick Ganesh out. No, no. Speaker 6 Horrible. Should not be fearful for his life. No. Speaker 4 I don't need moral guidelines. I'm so very religious and my religion says be a good person. Yeah. Speaker 1 That's good. Well, what a great way to live. And, you know, being number one isn't always, you know, the most important, right? I mean, look, you're getting to go to the exact school that you want to go to, and it will take you all the different wonderful places that you want it to go, you know, based on your hard work and all that kind of stuff. Speaker 1 So and it says a lot about both of you. I think, you know, you're just you're good people. I love that you all have there are a group of you that enjoy being around each other. You're like minded and you probably I can't even imagine the awesome conversations. And do you do each other like you were thinking about going with this science fair project or coming up with this question, or should I go with this? Speaker 1 Like I'll ask each other, oh, all the time. Speaker 3 With each other. That's Isaiah and Mariam and going more. Speaker 2 Questions than they I ask me always online. Yeah, we always I always lean on them for sure. There's no doubt about that. Speaker 1 It's such an important skill though. I see. If we just try to go through it all by yourself, I wonder, you know, life is just so much richer when you're kind of calling on your first No question. Well, that's that's great advice. So those of you who find out very soon, you know, if you're in the top of your classes as freshmen, you know, basically what I've heard so far is make sure you get together, use each other, form a group, form friends. Speaker 1 And I would think it even makes it a richer experience so enjoyable. Speaker 2 That's the biggest advice I would give, at least personally, to any kind of younger generation. Kid find find your find your whatever you like clique or not even really a colleague, just whoever that you hang out with. Right. And make sure you know your friends represent you. That's the biggest thing. But also make sure that you are the person that they want you to be to some extent as well. Speaker 2 That that way you're that. Speaker 3 That's not profound that there is just so that you're like. Speaker 2 That you're that kind of person, that helpful person because you never know when you'll need it. And I needed it many times and I got it too. I've given it back to to those two as well. So yeah. Speaker 6 I shared before we got started too, about an experience you had where you were going and you want to talk about that. Speaker 2 Yeah, sure I was. I was gone in my junior year for two weeks to India for personal reasons. And so when I came back, I was like two or three weeks behind, had to make up that particular week too. So I was really almost like three weeks behind. And so every single one Isaiah goes in like basically my entire top ten just scamming me with notes. Speaker 2 It goes like this what you miss in this class. So as you miss in this class is what you missed in this class notes, whatever. Speaker 3 And anything. Speaker 1 Amazing. Speaker 6 Is amazing. Speaker 2 Of course, teachers incredibly helpful to me, but really it was my it was my amazing friend group. And that's what it is because I lean on them just as much as I hope they lean on me too. So that's those are the relationships ability. Yeah. Speaker 1 Yeah, that is sweet. Speaker 1 So how long? I guess I've kind of asked this a little bit. You've known since your freshman year you were in the top of the class, but how long have you felt like you've known that you would be named the smartest students at Friendswood High School? Speaker 3 Like, is this something that you said? This is a different. Speaker 1 Route than I took in high school. All right. So I'm a little fascinated by it. Speaker 3 Did you aspire to be that? Speaker 1 Do you have you just followed your love for learning and it's gotten you to where you. Speaker 3 Are or. Speaker 1 Is it more of that then I really desire and want to be one into? Speaker 2 I'll preface this by saying I don't have the smartest friends, and I'm not sure I say that because I don't think I am for sure. But I guess there's always there are always talents in every single student. I think there's another student who's way smarter than me, but everybody. But but I think it just depends. I think obviously I am. Speaker 2 I am smart. I have worked really hard for where I am. I completely accept that. I'm very proud of my work, but I don't think I would say like I'm the smartest kid, but also at the same time I do. I'm very proud of my accomplishments that I have earned and everything. Yeah, but yeah. Speaker 1 And you should be. We've been following Ganesh. Yeah, we you know, I think it was early junior high. Speaker 4 I feel like we decided to rotate with Mr. Ortiz board for that. Yes. Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. It's been a nice project. Tell us about that project. So in junior high. Speaker 2 That's right. Speaker 6 Junior high. It was a junior high project. Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. What was your science fair project? Yeah. Speaker 2 So junior high. I, I was like, okay, we learned about photosynthesis in class and everything, and so I was like, okay, plants make food, right? So plants take like, make food that was the fruit. That was the principal concept. So why is there a food shortage or because plants don't make enough food. Okay, that's one big thing. Also, plants consume a lot of water. Speaker 2 These waters, one of their nutria or one of the the reactants for the for the reaction. So I was like, what if plants just consume less water plants are the ones consuming basically the most some of the most amount of water in in our society, which. Speaker 1 Is a precious resource, so very precious resource. Speaker 2 And so one of my ideas was what if you just made plants consume less water? That's it. And so to do that, I was like, okay, well, I could I, I could I know what are maybe chemicals you could put to the plant or what are some alternatives that people have found? And so when I was looking at it, it seemed that by adding potassium, which is a a an element to plants, it actually allows plants to consume less water chemically and physiologic. Speaker 1 Is that a powdered form? Speaker 2 Yes, it can be a powder form. It can be a liquid form just dissolved. It's just that element itself has a reaction with the guard cells in the plant, which are the ones that actually allow water to escape. And so I was like, okay, well then they'll consume less water and boom comes off. Yes, that's water that's been consumed by these plants. Speaker 2 So I was like, to what extent could I put potassium? And that was the that was the million dollar question, because if you put too much, it kills the plant. If you put it to little, it does very. Speaker 1 Little to no effect. Speaker 2 So what is the optimal range? And I think with my research it was around 400 ppm. I think 400, 600 ppm. Speaker 1 When you say pépin. Yeah. Speaker 3 So that's 1 million. That's I mean. Speaker 2 That's a quantity of potassium that you can apply on a larger scale for, for, for fields. And this amount of potassium would allow for the greatest amount of water conservation without limiting the plant growth, because that's also a big thing. If the plants start to die of potassium, you didn't really solve any issue. You just save water, but you also like kill your food supply. Speaker 2 So you have to balance both criteria. And so that was kind of the range of thought. I think for one or 2 to 600 ppm in most fields would be optimal. And I did this in like a really small scale setting in like hydroponics. Bessy Growing them in test tubes. That was kind of that. Speaker 1 So are you still working on this project? Is that something that you've kind of felt like you've already accomplished and you've moved on to something else, or is this something that you're like, Do you brand this sort of thing in potassium? Speaker 2 Yeah. So I did work on this in my seventh, eighth grade year. In ninth grade, I actually focused more on the biomass or basically the food or the yield that the plant would actually produce the amount of food. And that was kind of a little bit more interesting to me. In my sophomore year, I changed course, and the reason I changed course is because I had an interaction when I went to India and one of my cousins was losing her vision. Speaker 2 And so that that was kind of a very pivotal moment for me. I completely changed gears. I went from AG, you know, that was kind of what my focus was. And then I was like, Maybe I can do something for vision. And so then I was like, Let me explore engineering, because I was also really passionate in maybe pursuing medicine to some extent, but mainly engineering at that time. Speaker 2 And so I was like, engineering, okay, let me try to build a visual aid for my cousin. That was kind of the shift, almost like eighth to 10th grade year. That's when everything started to kind of kind of turn. And so I kind of stopped working on Anne Rice, the attention question. But then I found a little bit maybe a bigger passion of mine, which is maybe more in medicine and that sort of thing. Speaker 1 That's awesome. Speaker 6 I feel like what's happening in our brains right now sounds like something like this. Speaker 3 Yeah. Oh, my God. Oh, wow. Yeah, Right over then. Yeah. Speaker 1 Yeah. That's what I love is you're so young, but so in my generation, it was people really don't listen to young people. You know, it's you have to be an adult. You have to be experienced. You have to have a master's or doctorate or what? Absolutely. Yeah. Before people will even listen. That's somewhat been a shift for your generation. Speaker 1 I feel like, you know, when you have 20 something year old CEOs, we never saw that in my time. And so I love that you're taking the things that you love and kind of running with it because you don't have to wait. You know, has anyone didn't even want not to go back to your potassium, but do you want to take that on? Speaker 1 Do you know if there are farmers out there who have tried that sort of thing or is it not really okay? Speaker 2 I didn't I didn't make it. I know you might. Speaker 1 That a. Speaker 2 Brand kind of thing. And so, in fact, maybe that is a great idea of actually maybe pursuing, especially in California, because those are where a lot of plants are grown as well. Different crops. But the same idea. Maybe agriculture is also a big thing there. It's a great idea, but I didn't really pursue that in that case. But I did pursue my visual aid. Speaker 2 I did pursue bioengineering and creating my visual aid. But I have seen actually, I wrote a publication on this as well about one public, two publications. One got rejected, one got approved. And so because they were very similar in terms of material, our idea and so one of them did get approved in a journal and I've seen articles that are referencing that. Speaker 2 So I think there's some development with the with the visual aid that's being, you know, undergone. And I think I think that's a big field too. So I think that's going to be a really growing field, especially for optics. Speaker 1 Are you working with someone with your visual aids? Speaker 2 I did work with someone I worked with. They a and I thought an ophthalmologist or optometrist that that sort of thing. And she was very, very helpful in in helping me understand just how it works, how you build a a like a special optical construction because that's how glasses work. It's not just a single lens. Many times it's multiple lenses really interacting, which is it's refraction of light, right? Speaker 2 That's what really causes lenses to work. She helped me with that part, just understanding how that works. And so I thought, what if I just built it visually that it's so and so, like trying to improve people's vision, especially as they get older, Vision tends to get smaller. So how can you improve people's vision that when she said, That's a great idea, I try to pursue that as a let's do it. Speaker 2 And so that's basically what I did for about basically two years. That was my my research work. Speaker 1 That is three years. Yeah, that's. So did you go anywhere like this year as far as science fair or you kind of passed the whole science fair thing? Like do you work yourself to a level where you don't really do science fairs because you're already behind there? Speaker 2 I don't know. It's not I mean. Speaker 1 That doesn't work like that. I mean, I'm. Speaker 2 Just trying to. Yeah, I understand. Yeah, I'm just no, I'm just competing. I was competing in my sophomore year. I made it to ICF, which is the National Science and Engineering Fair. That's one in my junior year. I didn't get a chance to compete because of because of some spring personal matters. But in my sophomore year, sorry, my senior year, my senior year, I competed in Regeneron, which is the Regeneron science and talent Search. Speaker 2 That is a national competition in the United States for research that you've already conducted or maybe in the process of connecting whatever your findings are. And you can kind of just publish or you can create a manuscript. And it's a really rigorous process, but it's a great way to showcase maybe what you've focused on as a as a passion writer in your high school journey. Speaker 2 And so I was I was obviously more focused on the visual aid aspect. And so that's what I wrote my paper on and everything. And I submitted that that went really well for me and Regeneron as well. And so that's what that's kind of I really stick to science fairs mainly in my in my high school. Yeah. Speaker 1 I see. Are you interested in science fair projects. What, what's your main interest? You know, as far. Speaker 3 As school goes. Speaker 5 So I also started science fair in sixth grade mainly. So my first year in public school was fifth grade at Winson. And you know, I've always done science fairs ever since I was little. And you know, there were the silly little. Speaker 4 Oh, the food coloring. Speaker 5 In the white flour and the color changes. And then in sixth grade, in fifth grade, my first year in public school, I my project was something about it was something about like the diameter of blood splatter and like, forensics really got to be like that. Speaker 4 But that's not what I'm going to pursue in the future. Speaker 5 But very interesting topic. But yeah, so that's what I pursued in fifth grade. And it was really funny because I completely got eliminated in fifth grade because I had no idea we had to had a research journal like this is funny because that's literally the main component of the science project. Oh my. Speaker 4 Gosh. Yeah, it's a little bit of a culture shock. Speaker 5 But I was ready. Sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, and I still do like science projects up to today. And my main focus and like my passion is functional health and holistic medicine. Speaker 1 Okay? Speaker 5 And the reasons for that is because, like as I was growing up, I have three siblings and my brother, he was actually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Ecclesia, and he was diagnosed when he was like eight and I was like four. I had no idea what was happening. But obviously as I grew up, I saw, you know, all of his friends were a little bit bigger than him and he wasn't as outgoing as his other friends. Speaker 5 And the reason for that is because, like his esophagus was not allowing the digestion of his food. And so he had to have a G tube so that his food can literally be pumped into his stomach. And so my parents, they're both doctors in medical school. You know, you learn things to become a doctor and there's not really a focus on the importance of diet and lifestyle on health. Speaker 5 And that's when my mom entered the functional medicine certification. And with in the span of five years, we did things alternative sources like cupping. And we changed his diet. You know, he used to have ensure which is like nutrients for him, but that actually had loads of chemicals and loads of preservatives that were stunting his growth. And so we focused on fruits and vegetables and turmeric and antioxidants. Speaker 5 And seven years later, he's on the stage for bodybuilding. And so that's quite a turnaround. Speaker 3 So yeah, it's nice and collagen functional. Yeah. And so, you know. Speaker 5 But yeah, so that's actually my passion and specifically my science projects have been oriented around the importance of the gut microbiome, which is this balance in your gut, in your whole entire body of the different microbes and the presence of pathogens and probiotics and how that can affect your overall health, because we actually well, I want to pursue neuroscience is that there's a nerve in that's linked from our gut to our brain called the vagus nerve. Speaker 5 And this is an immense field that is being studied surrounding the neurological pathways and how that's affected by your everyday diet and lifestyle and obviously genetics plays a big role, but we're actually finding that your diet can turn on and off switches that turn on for cancer or autoimmune diseases. And that's something that I really, really want to do and I don't want to become some like crazy researcher. Speaker 5 I want to do primary care and do and want to help people specifically in terms of family and kids who are were like my brother and help in that small community aspect. And so yeah that's. Speaker 1 That's that's wonderful. That's Isn't that. Speaker 6 Great. Yeah that's amazing noted that influence at all your interest in weightlifting. Speaker 1 Yeah you said you got. Speaker 5 So so this actually my interest in weightlifting I have two older brothers and they're both I love them. They're literally my role models. Nine every aspect. But definitely. Speaker 4 Clarify that. I clarify that they're going to listen to this and their egos are going to be I'm joking, I'm joking. Speaker 5 But they have been lifting for years and my dad is also a big lifter and even my mom. Speaker 4 Yeah, well, I also lived in college. He's got the biceps and so it was actually. Speaker 5 During the COVID pandemic that I was just you know, I was inside all the time in my house. I was just really confused cause people were getting sick. And obviously here was a huge part of the pandemic. And my parents are like, Don't let it get to you like that. You're is a horrible obstacle for your immune system. Speaker 5 And I wasn't necessarily scared, but I was very stagnant in terms of the progression of my life. And so my brother was like, AC just come to the gym with me. And I was like, Wow. It's like, you know, I'm not I'm not big. I'm really weak, you know? In fifth grade in the fitness Graham Peyser. Speaker 4 Tests, I couldn't do one push up the emails. My mom were. Speaker 5 Like, I'm sick and she's got really bad upper body strength now. Speaker 4 I did 58 when the Navy came to our school. So yeah. So, yeah. Speaker 5 But that's when I started going to the gym. And I love the whole concept of muscle hypertrophy and how, you know, when you walk into the gym, everyone's the same and it's just your value is a direct relationship to how much effort you put in every day consistently. And that concept, it not only applies in the gym but in every aspect of life. Speaker 5 And I hope to see much more progress in the future. And yeah, that's definitely a huge element of my lifestyle that I hope never goes away. Speaker 6 Now, will you continue to because okay, so my two of my brother in law's actually lifted for UT. Oh really? I one of them is in a picture because they won something like that, like Sean showed me one time, I think it's in Gregory gym. But anyway, are you going to try to do that while you're there? Speaker 5 So I'm not going to do like powerlifting or weightlifting in that competitive aspect, but like, I just like training for functionality. Like I want to be able to move and be athletic. And I work a lot in mobility and recovery. And that's something my brother, who's a bodybuilder now, is pursuing also, and so. Speaker 4 That I don't think I would compete, but maybe clubs. Speaker 5 And recreational for sure. Speaker 6 Awesome. Speaker 1 That is awesome. Speaker 3 Thank you. Speaker 1 Good to hear. You know your story. Yeah. It's so important. Speaker 6 And well, both of you like that? Speaker 1 Sort of. Yeah. Speaker 6 You both have things that led you to go down the past year on now, which is in your projects. And yeah, it's amazing. Speaker 1 Which is really all of us, you know. Right. If you think about it, we all have stories in, you know, you think for whatever reason, as you get older, you start to write things down. But I would just encourage you to kind of write those things down now because it's beautiful to, you know, at some point people are going to say, how did you get involved in this or why? Speaker 1 And you not that you'll forget, but the details that you know and can remember now, it's just it's such a beautiful part of where you're going. And you can even look back and go, I thought this was where I wanted to go, but I can see the journey that I've taken along the way because of someone in my family that needed something. Speaker 1 Really. Both of you? Yeah. And it just makes you, you know, have a love and passion for that, which is you also have a love for this person. So how can I help get involved? I help them and both great stories, really great stories. Speaker 4 And that's something like. Speaker 5 Like you're saying the stories and what affects our future decisions and like we're talking about activity. And I yeah, I think the importance of like humanity and family values. So it really should not be forgotten. And that's something I really want to implement in my future, that my future family is future community. And I feel here at Friends and we have a great grasp of that. Speaker 5 So yeah, super grateful. Speaker 1 Well, hey, listen, you're a so a lot of us are, but your generation especially is a product of COVID. And we've never in our history have walked down the way that we did. And to think about what came out of COVID, you know, I don't know about you, but there were people that came out of COVID really struggling and worse off than what they went in. Speaker 1 And there are some people that came out of COVID with this. Yeah, I have because of where I am or what I've seen or what I've experienced, I know where I'm wanting to go and, you know, kind of have pursued that pathway because of that fear. Yeah, the time that we were given or you know, what you see, how it affected people. Speaker 1 So, you know, I think those things happen in our life and we can take, you know, hold on to him and say, I'm going to use this one day or yeah, it was just a time, you know, obviously there's a huge time in her life. She really impacted a lot, I think was. Speaker 2 Also a lot of mentality. She mentioned that fear is a big thing. Here is also just what you think is what's going to happen. Sometimes it's like how you train your mind to think is what is going to happen in your future. It's opportunities you create in your mind that's going to happen in real life. Speaker 1 Many times I have a written down in my journal. Whether you think you're right or wrong, you're right. And the power of the brain, I mean, it is powerful socially. Thank you for this. You're right. More than likely that's the way it's going to go for you. So it's important what you think. Speaker 3 You know. Speaker 1 I did as I was researching, asking your questions, I did come across, which I thought was interesting for you and for our viewers to hear that these are a list of valedictorians and salutatorian that have become famous people. You'll know them, but you won't maybe know some. Speaker 2 Friends with or just in general. Speaker 1 In general. CONAN O'Brien even know Weird Al Yankovic. I've even heard of him. Sorry. Weird Al Yankovic. No, that's an. Speaker 6 Easy answer. Speaker 3 No, he. Speaker 6 Does parody a series of songs and stuff. So, like, there was one. Oh, my gosh, I loved it growing up. I listen to it a million times. I want it that way, you know? By the way, Chris, So you did a parody of that called I bought it on eBay. Speaker 3 Oh, you've got to look it up. It's a show that's going like it's just crazy. Speaker 6 But he does like like parodies. He's funny, like he's a comedian. Speaker 4 Okay. The name. Speaker 5 Like, Tickle Something in the back of my brain. Speaker 4 Yeah. No position. Speaker 1 I don't even know if it would let me. Speaker 4 Are you playing? I've only been. Unknown Pink banned from the band. Speaker 4 I know the lyrics. I listen sometimes. Unknown Wow. TV train. Speaker 4 Is a. Speaker 3 Generational gap, and this is why I didn't do any science fair project with all of my co like image because I was too busy listening to Survivor. Speaker 1 Cindy Crawford. Very famous. Speaker 4 At all. Speaker 1 Jodie Foster, a famous actress. Dr. Seuss. Natalie Portman, Chevy Chase, Bette Midler. Speaker 3 Alicia Keys for Alicia Keys. I didn't know that. Speaker 1 Yeah, Yeah. So, okay, so I'm not going to lie. And I told you all some of this about Chad Djibouti already writing some of this. But I did turn to Chad Djibouti, to come up with some questions for you all. Speaker 2 Okay. Speaker 1 So one of the things that people if you haven't played with Djibouti out there, I would suggest that you do it. It's fascinating. There are a lot of videos out there on on the prompts that you put in your get as good as parts that you put right. So it really matters what you the process you that you enter. Speaker 1 But so in the tone of so I said in the tone of Elon Musk, ask our valedictorian and salutatorian a question. So in the tone of the one written by Chad Djibouti, it says, Congratulations on your remarkable academic achievement as a fellow achiever. I'm curious to know what strategies or methodologies you employed to maintain such high levels of academic success throughout your high school career, such as Elon Musk. Speaker 1 So tell us one strategy. What what strategy or methodology did you use to get you to be number one or to. Speaker 4 The difference I read? Okay. Yeah. Okay. So to me, I guess. Speaker 5 Yeah, I guess. Okay. I actually this is really weird, but there's been a lot of talk about like active recall and how, you know, you can ask questions and answer them and that's can implement it in your brain faster. But I do like a mix of that with I'm a very visual learner. And so I actually make these giant diagrams and I like, highlight them and I color like. Speaker 4 Yeah, I use it. And, and what I do is I'm. Speaker 5 Looking at the paper and I'm if I'm trying to recall the information in my head, I'm like, okay, let's talk about photosynthesis. I highlighted that in green, and then I made an arrow pointing to this reactor and blah, blah, blah. And then I can recall in my head and that's how I remember things. There's a lot of different strategies, but, you know, everyone at the end of the day kind of studies the same. Speaker 5 And it's just like the way our brain works. It's a little different. Speaker 1 Yes. Yeah, that's not weird. I love to share that. It's not. Speaker 4 Weird. Thank you. It's. Speaker 1 It's not. It worked for you and it worked. Well, There were other students out there that that would work well for. Yeah. So I love that you share that. I think that's awesome. Yeah. Ganesh, what I would imagine for you. Speaker 2 Yeah. So I would say the biggest strategy or or technique I used was really just and really mindset. I think that's something I've really focused on. It's just understanding that I put my mind to it. I really believe it. I mean, if I put my mind to it, I can get it done. I think I think belief is so strong in that way because, for example, like just yesterday I read like 25 pages of a book. Speaker 2 I would never do that on normal day unless it was the day before something was due and I got a procrastinator. So I was like, okay, it's like ten, It's like 10 p.m.. And I, I'm like, okay, I have to do it. I sit down and I just try to get it done. I think I'm more of like it's really more mindset kind of thing for me. Speaker 2 It's just I just have to really believe I can do it and I tend to do it. It's not really many strategies I use. I try to I know a big idea that I've played around with is actually something called Pomodoro technique, sort of that. And it's a methodology of study, which is you can study 30 minutes or 25 minutes and then 5 minutes of rest, and that's a method of optimizing performance. Speaker 2 Just so, for example, if you were to work for an hour, you've only spent 10 minutes resting. So that's about one sixth of the time resting five, six of the time working. It's just one of the most productive ways to to study. That's one thing I have tried, and it has worked out very well for me as well as a technique. Speaker 2 But many times I'm also I'm also willing to just procrastinate until the day before and then put in the time and didn't really believe I can get it done and try to get it done. Speaker 1 Well, like what you said the first part, because I think it's important because so many people live their life this way. But those 10 minutes get the benefit of those 10 minutes and rest or play vacation or hobby or, you know, allowing yourself time to not be so totally focused are just as important as the, you know, the 50 minutes. Speaker 1 Right. Yeah. Well, I don't think we tell ourselves that. I think we feel guilty so much of the time when we're in those 10 minutes. And of course, the 10 minutes can be whatever it is for you. But if you're on vacation or whatever, you're taking a break from work. We just feel so guilty sometimes and don't allow. Speaker 1 But without that time, we wouldn't be as beneficial. Over here. Speaker 2 It's actually a long term concept because if you were to work for a long period of time, studies that show you're just in studies and also just experience in general, you know that you become fatigued, right? Your eyes start to close, your brain starts to slow down. You start thinking, Oh man, I just want to give up. I just want I just want to stop doing what I'm doing. Speaker 2 But having intermittent breaks is just a more efficient way. And once you implement it, you see the results instantly. It's crazy. So I would just honestly just close my eyes for like 5 minutes, like set a timer. If I messes up, I'm ready. I know I'm a little groggy at like at first because I'm just trying to like, wake up after that. Speaker 2 It's just so much more productive. These are brain has time to rest. I think that's so important for us. Speaker 1 Very interesting. Speaker 6 So have either one of you ever pulled an all nighter. Speaker 4 So many. Speaker 5 Times or My junior year? I never pulled, like, a complete all nighter. Speaker 2 Correct. Speaker 4 But I pulled like a three hour sleeper. I don't know. That's like the worst of my doings for me. Speaker 2 But yeah, for school, I've never pulled an all nighter. Like in terms of I've always gotten at least 4 hours of sleep kind of thing. But for science, fair purposes, I have pulled all nighters many times, but not all nighters in the sense again, kind of what she said, not all the way through 24. It's more like maybe 2 hours of sleep or something. Speaker 6 Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Speaker 2 Like, yeah. Speaker 3 Oh, which is so horrible because, like. Speaker 5 Right now what my study I'm doing is about like sleep health and the importance of, like your palate when you're sleeping and there's your brain can literally eat itself whenever you don't get enough sleep. And that is so counterproductive because it's like, okay, you might be studying or you might be up late to study. Your brain's eating itself. Speaker 4 You're not. Speaker 5 Yet. Speaker 1 Progressing, are you into the taping of the mouth? Speaker 5 You know, Okay, So there's so that's actually what I was researching yesterday is that mouth breathers versus nose breathers, crazy difference. Like it's if you breathe from your mouth primarily versus your nose when you sleep, you know, it affects like your chin posture, your jawbone, your spinal posture. Your eyes can look a little bit tired. You have like hollow cheekbones. Speaker 5 It's crazy how it can affect your appearance, not only appearance, but like even your immune health in the way your body is supposed to function. And that's a big part of it. So I think taping, you know, many scientists talk about taping, but I guess it depends about the severity which you're breathing at night. Speaker 3 So yeah. Speaker 1 Kelsey takes her husband's mouth glasses. Speaker 3 I just saw the. Speaker 6 Video because he snores. Oh, no, they need to see this one. Okay. Like the snoring really drives me crazy. But then, like, he started doing this thing, It's like, on a rare occasion, he knows it, but it's like, Oh, my gosh. So I don't even have an M.D. on the microphone, but like. Speaker 3 Oh, really? Not like, oh. And it was driving me crazy. Like, I feel like doing some video and I just held his legs. Speaker 1 Together. Speaker 3 Let's together. And he used to plug his teeth. We're pumping up all the way through so that I am cracking well, it's like, oh, it goes right back to the oh gosh. Speaker 4 I need to get that checked out for sure. Speaker 3 Yes. Yeah, that's for sure. Speaker 1 So, okay, so this one's written as Albert Einstein. Okay. How do you believe acts of kindness can shake the collective consciousness and contribute to a more harmonious society? What's what was your latest act of kindness? So that's the two question always. Speaker 2 I always say hi to. I always say hi like I always start a conversation with anyone. That's my that's my goal. And in all of that many times, like, even if it's a stranger, I would say, Hi, how are you? Are you doing? How's your day then? Some like that. That's that's one of my pet peeves. Always start a conversation. Speaker 2 And also, if anyone holds the door for me, I will say thank you. Yeah, it's like, almost ingrained. That's something that's. That's probably my latest one. And yeah, that. Speaker 6 Drives me crazy are so many people who do not say thank you and hold. Yeah, And it is one of those things that irks me every time. Every time. Speaker 2 I don't say that's my mother is. Yeah. Speaker 1 For sure. Now, what is your latest most recent act of kindness? When you say. Speaker 2 It's probably. Speaker 1 That same saying thank you. Speaker 2 Just being respectful. Yes, that's probably like in my daily life. That's something I do almost every single day. Hopefully that's that's what I try you every single day. Speaker 1 I love it. Speaker 5 So for me, like as I was saying earlier, my moral guideline is definitely my religion and I'm Muslim. And so that's character is a huge part of our religion. And I guess my latest act of kindness is just smiling and it said that smiling is charity. And so I love that quote because it's just it never stops me from smiling. Speaker 5 You know, if you're a stranger, I'm smiling. You if I'm you in the hallway, I was lying to you and just doing that. I mean, not only is a little muscle workout for your cheekbones, but, you know, it immediately lightens my own mood and. Speaker 1 It produces chemicals in the body. That serotonin. Speaker 3 That's right. Yeah. Speaker 1 That's right. That's beautiful. That's. That's awesome. And so what's one piece of advice that you would give to next year's Valentine? Speaker 2 Our next year's Valentine. Okay. Speaker 5 I would say, you know, one decision or one event in your life does not define your whole entire life. Because I think it's like we were saying earlier, it's super easy for something to become personalized in our mind and to change the way we think. And we can't let it change the way we think. And you can't let your own character and the perception of yourself sway to everything that happens in your life, because that's not what we are created to act like to be like. Speaker 5 And so, yeah, so if there's something that happens, you know, stay strong, stoic and stay positive. You know. Speaker 2 Your point? I will say for for the next two years, I guess on salary, just juniors in general, I know the biggest thought on their mind is college. I know that for a fact. That was that was my position, you know, ten, 12 months ago and said the biggest advice I would say is exactly the quote I think I said before is you're destined to go where you're going to go, so just forget about it. Speaker 2 Do the best that you in whatever way that is, because I know that's a thought for every junior that that is going to be because that's a big thing. And and of course I was extremely fortunate and of many of my many of my peers were also very fortunate to go where they really like to go. And sometimes it doesn't work out, but you don't know it works out, but you know it will work out. Speaker 2 Sorry in the future because that's where you're destined to go. Maybe those are the opportunities you're going to find. And so that's that's my biggest advice is that just don't worry too much about it. Just do the best that you can, especially in school. Really build those memories because you only get one more year. And I know junior year is the most stressful year for many different reasons, one of which is of course the academics. Speaker 2 But senior year is really a beautiful time. And that's what. Speaker 4 Beautiful. Speaker 5 Is a great word. Speaker 2 Yeah, it's it's a really good game, amazing time. You really just want to enjoy as much of it as you can. And of course, there are other activities on your mind, other things that you're going to be doing, but really prioritizing your contentment. I would say it's probably the best advice I can give is really prioritizing contentment and happiness and well-being. Speaker 2 That's the biggest thing. Speaker 1 I love it. So many questions that you want to ask before I kind of closed out was. Speaker 6 Well, I couldn't help but notice you. You brushed over one that we had discussed before that was. Speaker 4 That you made a. Speaker 3 That you were you changed the number on. So I will ask that. Speaker 1 Yeah, let's do it. Speaker 6 Okay. So would you rather. Speaker 1 Oh yeah, I forgot that. Speaker 6 Yeah. Okay. Go to college or receive $10 million. Speaker 4 Oh well, a question. Speaker 2 Ten. Speaker 6 10 million. Speaker 2 We're talking 10 million. Speaker 6 We're talking 10 million. Speaker 2 Take $10 million and I'll just pull out 3% every year. Speaker 3 A million? Hmm. Speaker 1 Do you have something that you would do with that $10 million. Speaker 2 Into mutual funds pull up 3% every year in mutual funds grows at around seven 8% per year. If we take long term averages and so. Speaker 1 Okay. But I'm talking about your love for academics and for changing something. Speaker 3 You're going to college. I mean, here's a knowledge. It isn't going anywhere, right? Speaker 2 That's right. Actually, you. Speaker 1 Would go 10 million. Speaker 2 I wouldn't. Speaker 3 And one of. Speaker 2 The decisions I would do with that money is actually pursue an education. But in the context here, for sure, I would pursue the 10 million because then I know I can pursue education. Speaker 4 But also have an exclusive. Speaker 2 Mutually exclusive. Exclusive. Completely exclusive. Okay. Well, in that case. Speaker 4 Still, it just. Speaker 3 Does percent every year. Speaker 2 Let the money go, hopefully for long term averages. Yeah, I do. Speaker 4 For me, I would go. Speaker 5 With the education. I know everyone wanted to hear that answer, but yeah. Speaker 4 For me, it's just. Speaker 5 Like, again, the functional health aspects like that's something I really, really want to pursue, you know, for my own family and like personal goals in life and to explore that knowledge and help that knowledge, like, I guess get out into the world, I feel like more people need to know about it. And so I though I might not make a global impact without $10 million, I still feel like I can impact a community. Speaker 1 And so I don't think there's a right or wrong. I think I'm very interested in hearing, you know, your answers and why you think the way that you think. I will tell you. And of all the kids that we've asked the questions because we sit in every year on academic decathlon, and that was a question that we ask. Speaker 1 You're the first student. Speaker 6 To ever say you take the money. Speaker 1 Really take the money. Speaker 4 He's about to become a multi year. Speaker 6 We would probably fall more, I guess, in line with what you said. Speaker 2 I would say one more year. Another reason I was going to say is because I can use the money for my family as well. That's one of the things is I'm a family oriented person. So that's actually the first thought that came into my I was like 10 million or 3%. I can completely provide for my family, my, my, my parents and everything. Speaker 2 And so that that's that's why because that's one of the biggest things for me is to live in a way that I don't hurt other people. I can live content. And so that's why that's I think that one. Speaker 5 So I love it. You say that that's really. Speaker 1 Yeah, I well, both of you have such a strong head on your shoulders and your we absolutely cannot wait to see what you do moving forward. Speaker 6 Don't forget us, little people. I mean, I think that's. Speaker 1 Actually I can't wait to hear. It's something I look forward is it's one of we go to graduation every year. I love graduation. My kids have graduated. So I'm not like that interested in graduation itself, except the speeches. That is something that I really honestly look forward to. Speaker 2 Every year we're going to make banner speeches. Oh, yeah. Speaker 3 I no doubt. Speaker 1 I really hope you kind of take some risk and be funny or be you know, you're have great advice. There's not, you know, you talking to your class. Yeah, right. So I think you're very much loved in your class, so and you have such great, sweet hearts and spirits about yourself. So I can't wait to hear your speeches. Speaker 1 And you, you have to contribute. So we're going to end with this question. So you will end it by repeating the sentence and then answering. One thing I know for sure is. Speaker 4 That's a hard question. Speaker 2 And you know, one thing I know for sure is I will do what I can without hurting someone else, but only to further my own soul. Speaker 3 Mm hmm. Speaker 1 Nice. Speaker 5 Okay. One thing I know for sure is that anything I'm doing, I will always give 110% effort. Speaker 3 And. Speaker 1 That's beautiful. Well, I mean, we're so proud of you all. I can speak for all the friends. What I used to say that we're so proud of both of you. You have absolutely bright futures, and we just can't wait to continue to watch you what you do. Speaker 6 And I'll say it's not just either. I mean, there's been more pride from this conversation, not just that you all are academically so successful, but to see your hearts come out. Speaker 1 Absolutely. Speaker 6 I think that makes us more proud of representing the district. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I thank you for coming. Speaker 4 On the park. Speaker 2 Thank you for the opportunity. Speaker 4 To appreciate this famous. Speaker 1 Yep. And thanks for listening. Speaker 3 Bye.