Senior Val

Ishan Phadnis

A Senior Valedictory Portfolio

I believe that the meaning of life is

effort. If you try at anything, it

will come out to be true. No mat-

ter what obstacles there are in

your way, If you have the will to

overcome them, you will. As

humans, we have achieved so

much by adapting and trying to

succeed in the man eat man

world. If you can give your “all”

into a problem it is possible to

achieve your goal.

The Meaning of Life

Mrs. Cornell

Period 4

Leaving the Hometown 2

A Take at Maturity 3

College! 4

Adventures! 5

That One Guy 6

My Home 7

Opinions 8

Table of Contents

Special points of in-

terest:

Briefly highlight your

point of interest here.







There isn’t really I would say

anything to me, the me of the

past that is, other then to keep

doing what I have been doing.

Look to the brighter side of life

and remain optimistic.. I can’t

say there won’t be hardships

and plenty of problems coming

your way, but I feel like the

younger version of myself will

be able to handle it just as well

as I have. It does get easier.

You have no idea what’s wait-

ing for you! All the many differ-

ent adventures to be had all the

types of memories to be made.

Don’t try and change anything

about yourself, you’re perfect the

way you are. I could tell you the

meaning of life, but knowing

you, I think you already know it

don’t you? I’ll let the gears turn

in your head for that one, but till

then remember, pick the right

friends, and don’t forget to have a

good time, don’t get caught up in

something that could easily

shaken off. Don’t EVER forget

your love for books, I know this

seems like a after note, but it

seems to be really important to

me at this point. I sort of lost

my interest, but now I feel like

I’ve rediscovered a lost art.

Don’t lose it in the first place!

For my sake!

anymore, everyone is ready to go on

with their lives but those summer

days will always be left in some

dusty old corner of my head. Think-

ing of firing off bottle rockets from

my deck while sipping on some cold

cream soda , brings back some of the

warmest memories in my heart.

That’s not to say I will not miss my

When I say I will miss something,

it doesn’t mean I won’t see it

again. I will miss though, those

summer days where my best

friends and I didn’t have a care in

the world. We spent every day

outside in the sun basking in our

youth while we still had it. After

this year it just won’t be the same

family, but those days are when I

was at my happiest. I had a girl-

friend, I had great best friends,

and I had freedom! What else

could someone wish for? Maybe

money, especially since we live in

a town where money is usually

needed to do anything.

Oh Look...A Younger Me

Leaving the Hometown

7. Rangers Apprentice

8. Under Heavens Gaze

9. The Great Gatsby

10. City of Fire

All these books listed are some of

the many I have read in my 18 years.

Name of the Wind is literally like

my Harry Potter. I have read that

series hundreds of times and never

gotten bored, I know the second

book of the series by heart and

could give a test on it. Patrick

Rothfuss and Steven King are

some of my favorite authors of all

time.

Books Books BOOKS!

List:

1. Name of the Wind

2. Wise Mans Fear

3. Black Prism

4. Wolves of Calla

5. Enders Game

6. Eli Monpress Chronicles

Page 2 Ishan Phadnis Period 4

A Take at Maturity

Rhythm That Keeps Me Going

I’m a good friend...Right?

One of the biggest changes I’ve

noticed over the last four years

of my high school career is the

responsibly that every single

now maturing young adult. I

feel like as the later years come

on, kids have started to realize

that they’re parents are actual-

ly doing what’s best for them.

There are fewer fights in the

household, and more responsi-

bility is given to every young

adult as a consequence of it.

If you look grade by grade,

you can literally see the

change in maturity and re-

sponsibility. Maturity is

pounded into the teen’s

heads, until they understand

what a big bad world it is out

there. Freshmen aren’t as

organized and mature as the

latter junior and senior clas-

ses. Granted, there are kids

out there that are way more

mature then their years, but

they come rare. Mostly you

have to pry that maturity out

of kids at near standstill pace

till they’re ready to go out

into the world when they

turn into young adults.

if they are talking to me face to

face. If we’re texting I don’t an-

swer my texts unless it’s like be-

tween something I’m doing. So I

guess that’d be a disadvantage,

because sometimes I don’t re-

spond to the text for hours. I do

feel bad about it, but I’m not very

good at multitasking, and having

someone else’s problems on my

mind won’t help me in the least.

But as soon as I can I answer their

text and help them. I can’t say I

don’t make fun of people some-

times, everyone does, but for the

most part I’m there for anyone

who needs me. I’m free almost all

the time for people that need to

get away from the world and just

talk; it’s something I’m good at,

being there for someone.

As a friend I can honestly

say I’m a good one. I know I don’t

always make someone feel at ease,

but when they need someone to

listen to I always do. I’m not much

for a talker, but I usually let people

“vent” to me. They usually feel a lot

better and I feel like there’s always a

deeper connection when we’ve

shared a conversation as such. This is

can’t believe that such a simple art

form can help express so much. I

love all types of music, because

it’s always unique in it’s own way,

there are a set number of notes, a

set number of chords, but they can

be combined to make a beautiful

work of art unlike what anyone

has ever seen. I recently started

Music is one of the biggest parts of

my life. It encompasses everything,

from just lazy Sunday afternoons to

my homework playlists. It has al-

ways been a big part of my life, let-

ting me put my emotions into words

and melodies. It sways my mood,

anywhere from bright and sunshiny

to I freaking hate you moments. I

playing guitar, and I can’t believe

how much of a escape that is for

me. I look at my heart like a

patchwork of different things I

love, and a huge chunk of that is

always taken up with music.

“You deserve to be

happy. Everyone has a

right to it.”


There would be a lot of things I’d

throw into a time capsule which I

would open later in my life. For

one I’d put my favorite guitar pick

in there, and how I found a pas-

sion for learning to play an instru-

ment. I would put in my stuffed

puppy, Rex, because that was one

of the first toys I got when we

moved here. Other mementos

would be my grandfathers old bat,

which we used to go out into the

street and play some baseball.

There would honestly be so much

stuff to put into the time capsule I

wouldn’t know what to do with it.

What I would maybe do differently

then other people, is add mementos

from bad experiences as well as

good ones. Our life shouldn’t be

defined by just the good parts, to get

to those parts we sort of had to go

through those tougher trials didn’t

we? Maybe the bad report card that

made me finally focus on school and

give it a serious mindset. I don’t

really need any help with finding

nostalgic things in my house, but if I

were to put them all in one place

and then go through them years

later, I would have to take it a few

days at a time. To have so many

memories overflow your mind as

you open the hunk of metal would

be almost too much. After I open

the time capsule, my eyes would

close, and I would pick things out

one at a time. And go on from

there.

I’m not sure what my major is going

to be right now. I do want to minor

in either biology or physics. I’ve

been thinking about being a Com-

puter Information Systems supervi-

sor but now I’m thinking I would

actually really really like teaching

high school kids physics. But first I

got to get through the 4 years of

I’m personally really looking for-

ward to college. It’s a place where

I’ll be able to have so much more

freedom then I would if I was at

home. Granted it is a lot more

responsibility, but I feel like it’s

time for me to actually take a step

into the big boy pool. I plan on

going to Ball State University, but

some more extensive education. I

am pretty psyched about Ball State

because there is a good chunk of

students from Fishers that are

going there this following fall. I

hope I can eventually be able to

make new friends, because the

same ones sometimes would be-

come a little annoying!

I’ll See You In A Couple Years

College!

to keep a match, or hold a rehearsal.

It’s given me a healthy taste of any

activities I may want to do outside,

even though in the end I prefer be-

ing inside, playing music or video-

games. I am a outside person! I’m all

for walks during fall and exploring

the woods on a hike, but when it

comes to playing a sport, or having

to do physical activity just to “win” it

sort of just loses it’s interest to

me. It’s better to enjoy the

world, because it is the world, and

not because we make win or lose

situations for people that in the

end just want recognition for

something they did outside.

Lessons!

I don’t know why, but over the

years my parents seem to have had

the need to enroll me in lots of

extracurricular activities. Not

nearly as much as a regular Fishers

High School “jock” but still a fair

amount. I’ve done swimming,

tennis, karate, mixed martial arts,

and other things. I’ve had my fair

bit of running from place to place,

“Here we go! Jump!

Higher! Or you’re gonna

be thrown in!”


Personal Point on the High School

School

Adventures!

Overall I have no problems

with the high school as a whole.

Granted every big institution

has it’s own problems, The

education system as a whole is

messed up! You cannot have

standardized tests for students

that can’t be grouped into cate-

gories. People are unique, eve-

ry one knows that. Hell,

schools pride themselves in

being able to give each student

the type of attention they need,

but then how can you give some-

thing like a “standardized” test to

everyone? People learn at differ-

ent rates, in different ways, with

different environments, and it’s

hard to control all those factors to

make the learning experience for

a student the most helpful.

Schools do try their hardest, giv-

en that they have thousands of

kids with thousands of their own

lives, but there should be a more

simple way to figure out what

each individual kid would need

rather then just bunching them

up in vague categories. High

Schools are great for everyone,

it’s the basis of the American

education system, they get us

ready for college, and help us

become a lot more mature. It’s

like a adult making factory!

it anymore. Being outside, helps a

lot too! Me and my best friends

weren’t big like other teenagers

on “driving around” we sort of

went where our feet could take

us. And that’s led to some very

weird and crazy adventures.

We’ve been chased by old people,

dogs, and every one else alike.

We’ve had to hop fences, dodge

cars, and all that good stuff! I

agree, that some of it was danger-

ous, but when you’re a teenager

you really don’t seem to care too

much. I almost am happy some of

those days are behind me, because

when I look back, I can’t believe I

was that freaking stupid some-

times.

My High School career has led me to

have one of the most care free life-

styles around. It’s all about hanging

out with my friends, playing music,

and going to school. Over the last

few years I’ve also started going to

the gym on a regular basis. It’s been

a good release for when I become

angry, as I tend to hold things in and

let them eat at me till I can’t handle

then, it was a useless and worth-

less to learn words and how to

spell them when in books all I had

to do was read them. But now I

see how much of a little kid I was,

and I’m thankful for all those ele-

mentary school teachers that kept

me in with their stern faces, and

made me sit down and actually

School wasn’t always fun for me.

Now days I look at it as a way to

socialize with friends, and actually

learn some stuff from classes I like!

Back in elementary school it wasn’t

so easy. I was usually the guy that

had to stay in during recess and redo

quizzes and tests, because I couldn’t

spell for my life. I hated English back

learn how to spell words. I have a

soft spot for writing stories now,

and I wouldn’t be anywhere near

where I was if it wasn’t for those

teachers that got through to my

stubborn head.

“We can jump that…

or...at least I can. We’ll

see you on the other side!”


Not many people were

affected by the disastrous events

that happened in Mumbai on

2012. Bombs went off at popular

stores which sold gold, jewels,

and jewelry. This was personally

frightening for me because my

cousin, who lives right by the

Zaveri Bazaar, was out that day

when the event took place. I re-

member my mother frantically

trying to get a phone call to my

cousin when she saw the terrifying

events unfolding on our television.

My mother would deny it tooth and

nail, but this particular cousin of

mine, who is the most studious of

us, was her favorite. No matter how

much she tried, the call would not

go through because of the immense

rise in calls due to worried family

members making sure they’re cous-

ins, daughters, fathers, mothers, and

so many more were all okay. Even-

tually the call did go through and we

found out our cousin was fine. He

had gotten home just an hour before

the bombs had gone off. The Prime

Minister of India said all leads

were being followed, but we

could already see the devastation

the attack had caused. Even

though our family was fine, lots of

people lost loved ones.

Biswas, Soutik.

"Mumbai Blasts: 'No Intelligence

of Attacks'" BBC News. BBC, 14

July 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2013

people a lot more then they should.

You don’t know you love it, or hate

it, till you try it. Everything has to

happen once. And that’s even when

most people don’t learn the first

time around! To really fall for a

passion, you need to know why

you’re so intense about it. You need

to understand all aspects of it. That’s

You can’t fall for something unless

you want to. It’s almost like learn-

ing that you like to read books, or

play music. You don’t know that

you do, until you give some effort

and try to read and play. How can

you know you love something,

unless you know both sides of the

coin? Love and Hate seem to fool

when you really know you love

something. I believe that under-

stand is key in trying to find that

special thing that makes you you,

even if it’s another person

The Mumbai Blasts

Falling for Something

he’s helped me even talk to people

normally. I have gotten a new out-

look overall in life because of him.

He showed me to not take every-

thing too seriously like I always did.

I can’t say my life has been drastical-

ly changed overall because of him,

but I can definitely say it’s gotten

better once I got to know him as my

best friend. I’m just feeling better

about everything in general, be-

cause he has made my life bright-

er. It’s almost a new outlook, an

almost optimistic outlook. I’m

sure I’ll have more influential

people in my life as it progresses,

but right now he seems to take the

cake. I don’t think I’d be the same

person today if I hadn’t met him

that one rainy day at the bus stop

freshman year.

That One Guy

My best friend so far has

always been the most influential

person in my life so far. I won’t

name them, but they helped me

“come out of my shell” as it were.

Granted I met him recently, but

he’s helped me through a lot. I

used to be very shy, but he’s got-

ten the crazy side out of me. He’s

helped me get my first girlfriend,

“Why is a cup of coffee called a

cup of Joe? I’m going to call it

a cup of Steve from now on. “


Bandwagon’s Comin’ Around Again!

Struggle From the Beginning

My Home

Recently there has been an almost

shift in change in pop culture. Eve-

ryone is into the newest fashion, and

newest music. I tend, to not be one

of those people. I wear what’s com-

fortable, and I listen to what makes

me happy. Even as a teenager my-

self, I can say that the culture of our

generation seems to shift at a radical

rate. Things aren’t how they were 5

years ago. And I’m assuming the

won’t be same in the next 5 years.

But I do feel like most of the time,

you just have to go with the wave. I

believe that social media and just

technology in general is the reason

for such a drastic change. It causes

us to be a lot more vulnerable to

the world where nothing stops for

no one. I can say, with some nos-

talgia, when Disney channel used

to play the “good” shows. I put

“good” in quotes because, it’s my

opinion of whether they're good

or not. I’m part of a later genera-

tion, and the newer one wouldn’t

probably agree with my opinion.

They have their own shows they

walk, that they’ve grown up with.

It’s all a matter of perspective

when it comes to the newest

trend. It depends on who brought

the trend out, and if it’s a good

enough one for everyone to band-

wagon on until another wave

comes by.

almost 4 times, before we settled

into the house that we are cur-

rently living in. Even though my

mother does want to move into a

ranch home when she’s retired,

the home we currently live in is

just the right size for us. Our fam-

ily isn’t too big so we have extra

bedrooms and more then enough

space for guests when they need to

stay the night. It’s where I grew

up. Granted, I did have a child-

hood home, but this one was just

as important. This was the home

that I grew up in, this place is

where I made my friends and

memories. I will forever love this

place, even when I’m long gone.

I wasn’t born in the United States.

Most people assume I am because I

speak English well. But We actually

moved here sometime during late

October in 2000. Unlike most of my

peers that are going to college this

year, our family had almost no mon-

ey when we came over, causing us

to save like crazy for my tuition next

year. We have moved around a lot,

me to not get enough oxygen in

the womb. Even though they

couldn’t do anything to fix it, only

hope I would get better, the doc-

tors did have a good outlook say-

ing that now that I was out, I

would do a lot better since I start-

ed using my own lungs. That did

end up being the case (thank god)

When I was born, my mother had

looked very shocked when she saw

me. I was a blue baby! Literally I

came out with a bluish ting to my

skin. The doctors rushed frantically

to see what was wrong with me, and

the finally figured it out. My heart

was slightly to the right then most

people would have theirs, causing

because by the end of the second

day I was a normal wailing baby

and didn’t seem to have anything

wrong with me. My heart still

beats a little to the right then eve-

ry one else, but I don’t mind, it

hasn’t affected me in the least

since.

“The first thing I noticed

was that there weren't any

horns being honked on the

streets!”


“He’ll be fine. He’s

breathing fine now!”

works, and that should never be how society

works. That’s almost the first step to a dictator-

ship. I’m not saying you have to be completely si-

lent about your opinion, talk about it all you

want. But it is dirastically different if you go to

place to place, trying to convince people to

change theirs. That’s not okay. Don’t try and

change people just because you can’t stand being

able to be “wrong” by what society says about the

said subject.

I believe that everyone can have their own opin-

ions. It’s not up to me to judge what a person

thinks and why they think it. Every person is

unique and has their own right to their own

thoughts. As long as you don’t shove your opinions

down my throat, I don’t mind about what you

think. If I like you, I like you, if I don’t, I don’t. It’s

really simple when someone thinks about it. I

don’t get what the big deal is with people needing

to rant to the general public, and have their opin-

ions and ONLY their opinions to affect the general

good of all the public. No, that’s not how society

Opinions!

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Senior Val