Meena Gudapati (12) moves with a rather distinctive gait—toes and feet angled inwards in what’s commonly referred to as the “pigeon-toed” condition. She also speaks with an accent quite unusual for a born-and-raised Californian, given that it doesn’t sound particularly American.

“I really don’t try. I don’t do it on purpose,” she said. “I talk like this and people talk like me, and it makes me feel like such an influential person. I just like to enunciate certain words, and it feels like overall a success. It’s memorable.”

Meena wants to be remembered for more than just her walk and talk, however. She values sharing her fun with others just as much as experiencing it herself.

“I just want to be remembered by the word ‘legend,’” she said, pausing to laugh. “I like it when people laugh at a joke, and I like it when people say ‘Meena, you’re such a legend.’”

Abha Patkar (12) notes that when Meena walks down a hallway, people call out to her.

“Everybody knows Meena,” Abha said. “I think she’s one of the most loved people in this entire school. Everybody knows her. She’s such a down-to-earth personality, and she’s the most amazing person in every single one of our lives. Everyone needs a Meena. She’s hilarious; she can make anyone laugh. Once you get to know her, you’ll find she has the biggest heart you’ll ever meet.”

Just as much as her friends value having Meena in their lives, she appreciates having experienced her most memorable days of high school with them.

“[In the car, my friends and I] blast music and just sing along in the night,” Meena said. “It’s a lot of fun, and we try to make eye contact with people in the cars to our left or right, and they usually smile and dance along. That’s the fun bit—just spreading happiness, I guess, and having fun while we’re doing it.”

Meena believes her life philosophy of having fun and encouraging others to do the same has thrived at Harker even as she’s pursued competitive academics.

“You can either take the competitiveness in a bad way, like it holds you down, which in some ways I’m sure everyone has been held down by it [and] it’s had a negative impact in some ways, but I think for me, it’s mostly been positive, because it’s honestly just motivated me,” she said. “I don’t get very stressed about things, because I don’t really get that caught up in it, so I think people think of me as pretty chill.”

Despite her “chill,” Meena has gotten involved with Harker Red Cross, serves as the editor-in-chief of this publication and runs a podcast–– “Get Skool’d”–– with her friend Jenna Sadhu (12), this publication’s multimedia editor.

“She’s just a really, really fun person to be around, and she uplifts you,” Jenna said. “She always makes these really nerdy jokes about math which nobody really understands except her. “She’s very technical. She handles all the microphones and the computer and stuff like that. She’s very on it.”

Her favorite advice embodies that worldview: she cites her favorite quote as being Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t worry; be happy.” Worrying is antithetical to how Meena lives her life.

“Sometimes I think about if I go back in time and change one thing, how would that change where I am now?” she said. “I wouldn’t want to change anything. I came to that conclusion. Everything happens for a reason, I’m a big believer in that, so if everything didn’t happen, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Who knows, we could be somewhere better, but I just think everything impacts everything. Everything happens for a reason.”