Starting high school is tough enough, but for freshman Arnav Singhal, it’s a whole different level of challenge. Between Navigating the intense world of speech and debate, tackling a demanding course load, smashing birdies on the badminton court, and capturing life through the lens of a camera, he has mastered the delicate balance of academics and extracurriculars.
Currently, this freshman is taking many challenging classes, including Biology Honors, English Honors, Pre-Calculus Honors, Spanish 2, Health and Fitness, and Multimedia Journalism. Singhal explained that his favorite class this year is Multimedia Journalism because “we get to use all the different Adobe platforms like Photoshop, Lightroom, Audition, and more.” His favorite project from the class has been the “How-To” video in which students picked a topic and had four class periods to create a video on it. Singhal showcased a tutorial on how to use the Adobe platform Premiere Pro.
On top of his rigorous course load, Singhal is also part of the Speech and Debate club at LGHS. He has won multiple California Forensic League tournaments, and recently, Singhal won the California Lions Club Speaker competition at districts and will go to the zone level, the next level after districts, sometime this month. His main focus in the club is parliamentary debate, but for the Lions Competition, Singhal competed in speech. He remarked that his favorite part about the club is “the community we have at club meetings. We always have a mock debate where we practice, and it’s pretty fun.”
Singhal is also part of the Community Center Focus Club on campus. The club is dedicated to representing LGHS input on the building of a new community center in Los Gatos. They work with the Thrive Foundation to obtain input from the high school and then go to town council meetings to represent the group. They then meet with people in charge to make the community center a reality.
As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, Singhal is also on the school’s JV badminton team. He has been playing on badminton teams for two years now, and Singhal explained that he started playing because “I was always playing badminton with my dad and mom since I was five years old, so when I had the opportunity to play in school, I ran with it.”
In whatever free time Singhal has left, he enjoys wildlife photography. He stated, “I’ve been doing photography for four months now. I got into it because one of my friends introduced me to it, and he helped me get started by lending me his camera. I fell in love with it.” Singhal and his friend work with research companies to help monitor wildlife levels in local areas. So far, his favorite photo is one he took at sunrise of a coyote on Los Gatos Almaden Road because of the golden tones in the picture and the story it told.
Through his dedication to academics, extracurriculars, and personal passions, Arnav Singhal has proven that balancing a busy schedule is possible with hard work and enthusiasm. Whether he is crafting compelling arguments in debate, excelling in his challenging classes, or capturing the beauty of nature through his camera, Singhal continues to embrace every opportunity. His ability to juggle so many commitments while still finding joy in the process is a testament to his upbeat attitude and resilience.