Ever listened to the melodious covers of songs posted on Instagram? Or maybe scrolled through captions punctuated with various heart emojis? That’s Sohenee Banerjee (12).  

“Sohenee is one of those people where when you first meet her, you’re wondering if her kindness is almost an act because she’s so nice, but then you realize it’s completely genuine,” said Melissa Kwan (12), her friend from advisory. “She’s just actually the most amazing sweet person ever.”

One of Sohenee’s closest friends, Meghana Karinthi (12), met her in the buddy bash before sixth grade was immediately drawn to her friendly attitude.

“Basically, I was and still am not the kind of person to socialize with new people,” Meghana said. “She approached me in the lunch line and asked to sit with me, because we both didn’t have any friends. We got to talking, and I realized that we had a lot of activities and interests in common. Over the years, we started doing different things, but she still remained my best friend in the entire world because of her personality. She’s caring to everyone she sees.”

Sohenee’s friends frequently listen to her song covers — “you are amazing” and “can’t wait to hear this on the radio” are just two snippets of the 118 comments on most recent video. Her interest in music began with classical Indian training at five years old, and she later added Bollywood and American choral music to her repertoire before deciding to go solo.

“I was in choirs and stuff, but I realized that choirs were all about blending,” she said. “I love that, and it’s beautiful for some songs, but also it kind of hindered my personal ability to grow as a singer. I kind of stepped away from the school singing and focused on myself.”

During her years in high school, Sohenee utilized music to help her through difficult situations.

“I was going through a lot of emotional turmoil the past couple years of high school and I started songwriting,” she said. “I started writing my own music. Music is the most beautiful, true and genuine connection to someone’s soul.”

She believes that music is something that can reach more people than just those of your school, culture, country, or language.

“Music is something that transcends all boundaries, all cultures. No matter what language a song is in, you can still feel it even if you don’t know what the words means,” she said. “Music is one thing that’s been there for me. That’s so cheesy, but I’m a really cheesy person. Music is my compass, it guides me to where I want to be, and it’s so beautiful.”

Beyond music, her caring attitude towards music translates to her work with middle school children. Sohenee began volunteering seriously during her sophomore year of high school, which she admits she started primarily to fulfill the community service requirement.

“I’ll be honest. When I walked into high school, volunteering was something I just did because it was just a checkmark on that big list,” she said.

However, as she started to delve deeper and deeper into the experience though the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula in East Palo Alto, she found a new appreciation for helping others, a trait that has become central to her identity.

“I would go in and teach them two times a week during my sophomore year,” Sohenee said. “I was a math tutor. I thought it would be fine. [My student] literally hated learning. He did not want to learn. I brought him cool pencils, and stickers, and but he was not having it. It took me a while to connect with him and realize how hard his life actually is. His parents are both janitors, and they come home super late. He has to take care of himself and his brother, and he’s in fourth grade.”

Taking the time to learn how to teach this student really pushed Sohenee’s perspective on volunteering and illustrated the value of community service.

“It took me weeks to break that barrier, but then once I broke that barrier, I was able to find a way to actually get him to learn, which was through online math games. That was the first genuine experience I had volunteering. [I realized that] this is so much bigger than who I am, what I want to do,” she said.

Meghana noted that some of Sohenee’s qualities not only make her a caring friend, but also someone who shows genuine compassion towards the world around her.

“It’s really rare, especially in this area where everyone is super competitive,” Meghana said. “She knows that little acts of kindness can go a long way. If we’re at a store, and she likes a salesperson’s eyebrows, she won’t be afraid to tell them. She’s really selfless. Even if she has a lot of work, and her friend is in trouble, she’ll still help them. That, I think, is one of her most admirable qualities.”