Ajithaan Sathiyendra's senior portrait. Photo submitted by James Valente.
Ajithaan Sathiyendra has ranked 4th in his class as a Malden High graduate for the class of 2020. Not expecting the news, he was “really surprised when [he] found out [he] made it on the Top 10 list.” He stated “[he was not] aiming to place in a high rank” and “took classes that [he] found interesting and challenging.” He believed this “motivated [him] to do [his] best.”
He is proud of how he balanced “enough time between schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and learning on [his] own.” Sathiyendra made time to learn about stuff he found interesting outside of school which “helped build [his] interest in Computer Science and Math.”
Sathiyendra was also involved in many extracurriculars throughout high school. He was a part of “Computer Club, Math Team, Badminton Club and Science National Honor Society.” He also had leadership positions his senior year as “the Vice President of the Badminton Club and Secretary of Science National Honor Society.” It was difficult for him to balance “extracurriculars on top of school.” Making time to finish his work was a challenge but, “[he] made sure to keep track of all [his] assignments and their due dates so that [he can] work on it ahead of time.”
He explained how Paul Marques, a computer science and math teacher, had “a huge part in helping [him] succeed.” Marques encouraged him to “learn on [his] own at a faster pace” which helped him discover his interest in computer science. Sathiyendra learned how to prepare for college and the real world through Marques’ teachings, reminding him that “‘[his] education is [his] responsibility.’”
He encourages the current Malden high class’ to “build connections with teachers and staff to have people you feel comfortable talking to.” He also hopes students ”make use of all the resources MHS provides.”
Although the school year had not ended the way he expected, “[he] felt that the past four years in high school had gone by very fast.” He is grateful for all the activities and events throughout high school and is “looking forward to starting a new chapter.“
He is attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a computer science major and considering a second major in mathematics.
