Her highlighted hair glows in the sun, matching the bright smile that spreads across her face as she tells her friends a playful story that makes them all burst into laughter. It’s almost impossible to miss her, from her spirited shouts and countless jokes to her self proclaimed “Janice from ‘Friends’ cackle.” Whether it be during rehearsals for the various productions she’s in, practicing speeches in front of her peers or just walking around campus, Meghna Phalke (12) always makes herself known.

“Everything I do is very intense—I speak very loudly, and people say I strut when I walk. I think that my energy and my presence are such defining factors of who I am,” said Meghna, laughing as she grasped her hot, venti-sized Starbucks drink.

As lively as she seems now, Meghna was not always so animated. When she came to Harker as a freshman, she was one of the shyer students in her class, but joining performing arts and the speech team brought her out of her shell.

“Her confidence in herself has grown so much and I know she’s worked so hard to get where she is, whether it be with musical or speech, and a lot of that is because she puts her everything into what she’s passionate about,” said Neha Premkumar (12), a close friend from when they were both in Camerata during sophomore year.

Nonetheless, she still was unsure about her place in the school community. “At first I thought ‘am I a speech kid outside of the performing arts team? Or am I a performing arts kid outside the speech team?’ I grew to realize it isn’t really isn’t that, they’re both equally my family,” Meghna said.

Aside from these families from school, she focuses on her real family as well. With two younger twin sisters emulating everything she does, Meghna needs to keep herself in check every step of her life. Her actions and decisions not only affect herself, but also her two maturing sisters. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by this responsibility, she embraces her influence in their lives, accrediting them to her success.

“Being a guiding figure in my sister’s lives has helped me grow so much. They look up to me so much, and that really makes me want to be my best. The way I behave towards others, the way I behave towards myself, I always have to be the best I can because I know they’re always watching,” she said.

No one is perfect, though, and Meghna herself has faced many obstacles throughout the years. However, she always found a way to push past them and persevere, maintaining a smile through it all.

Gabriele Stahl, Meghna’s calculus teacher during her junior year, notes Meghna’s optimism.

“You can deal with your emotions one way or the other but I think Meghna always chooses the positive path,” Stahl said.

To Meghna, keeping her cheerful, confident, and charismatic demeanor is a must.

“One of my biggest goals in life is to make other people happy, I just feel like it makes me internally happy. One thing I truly believe is that you get what you put out in the world. If I’m giving others happiness I find it in myself,” said Meghna.

Because of this, Meghna’s friends play a major role in her life. She’s known to be insightful, especially when it comes to her friends emotions, and never fails to check in on anyone that she thinks needs help.

“She’s empathetic in a way no one I’ve ever known is – she picks up on other people’s pain or struggles instantly, and always knows what to do to make it right. It’s amazing, her care for those around her,” wrote Haris Hosseini, one of Meghna’s best friends, in an email.

Her empathy is not limited to just her friends. Meghna also works for a non-profit, Arogya World, helping underprivileged kids and working to prevent non-communicable diseases through education. Seeing those children and noticing the current climate of the world, Meghna felt that she needed to use her position and privilege to create change.

“I don’t know a specific moment when I made the decision that I want to make change, but with everything going on right now, I just realized that I want to be the person that helps get people the opportunities they deserve,” Meghna said. “I want to give a voice to those who don’t have the ability to speak for themselves. Everyone deserves an equal chance to build themselves a life and build themselves a future.”