Sophomore Manikandan “Mani” Venkatesh is thriving in the Malvern community and exploring his interests.

Sophomore Mani Venkatesh is loving his Malvern experience and all of his classes as his workload increases.

Venkatesh is taking one of the most difficult course loads out of the sophomore class, but he still thrives in his environment.

“I love AP Bio this year,” Venkatesh said. “I love science and learning about how things work.”

Venkatesh has found a niche in AP Biology, taught by Mrs. Anna Geider. “The labs we are doing are really cool,” Venkatesh says.

One of his favorite parts of Biology is learning about the plants and cross-pollinating, Venkatesh said. He also finds DNA to be really interesting.

Venkatesh hasn’t typically enjoyed English class, but does this year thanks to teacher Mrs. Kathryn Wolstenholme. “English has always been one of my least favorite subjects,” Venkatesh said. “This year she is making it a lot of fun and I always look forward to class.”

Venkatesh hopes to take AP Economics in the future. “I would love to go into finance or something like that. Maybe I will take AP Chem as well, if it works.”

Outside of class, Venkatesh has other passions on campus. One of his most important activities is his role on Malvern’s crew team.

Even with Venkatesh’s rigorous curriculum, he still finds time to excel at rowing. He has rowed since the winter of his freshman year, and is considering pursuing it in college. Rowing is very time-consuming, but Venkatesh finds time to fit everything in and still perform at a very high level both academically and athletically.

Venkatesh said that he most looks forward to competing in the Henley Royal Regatta, a crew race in England that Malvern attends every few years.

Outside of both academics and athletics, Venkatesh can’t wait for the future service trips over the rest of his time left at Malvern. He sees trips as an opportunity to form closer bonds with the people around him. “My favorite Malvern memory so far is definitely the Middle School canoe trip,” Venkatesh said. “We all just had so much fun messing around and we ended up bonding too.”

Above all else Venkatesh wants to spend his time at Malvern forming a close brotherhood. He believes it will make his time in high school worthwhile.