As the captain of the varsity girls soccer team and a softball enthusiast, it’s no secret that Ria Gupta (12) thrives and grows in athletic settings.

“I absolutely love soccer,” Ria said. “Being captain this year, I’ve also learned so much about leadership. With softball, I learn something new every practice, and every year, I just focus on improvement.”

Riya Gupta (12), one of Ria’s close friends, has watched Ria’s ability to turn negative situations on the field into positive ones.

“Watching her as the soccer captain this past year was amazing,” Riya said. “You could tell how much she enjoyed leading her team through a really great season. Whenever a game didn’t go exactly as planned, her resilience shone through, and she picked her team back up and led them to even more victories. She’s such an amazing friend. She’s able to instantly turn your bad mood into laughter with her kindness and jokes, and I’m pretty proud to have her as my namesake.”

Ria’s best friend, softball teammate and soccer teammate, Anika Rajamani (12), reflects on Ria’s perseverance, another quality that has helped her both on the field and beyond.

“Regardless of what she’s been through, I’ve watched her bounce back, and that has taught me what real strength is,” she said. “No matter the situation, she never fails to make me laugh, and I love that she and I share our crazy, fun personalities.”

Beyond playing soccer and softball in high school, Ria has been deeply involved in the arts outside of school. She first joined the Tarangini School of Kathak Dance at the age of 6, and what most people don’t know about her is that she’s equally as drawn to the performing arts.

“When I first started, Kathak was not my favorite thing because it being Indian Classical Dance, it kind of bored me,” Ria said. “It wasn’t high tempo or anything, but I learned to love it because it taught me discipline and grace. It also just helps me connect with my cultural heritage. Doing ballet or hip hop or any other dance, I wouldn’t have that bond that I have with Kathak. With Kathak, when my teacher is teaching us something, she’ll tell us the backstory behind it, sometimes with a religious connotation. That’s what makes Kathak really special.”

Her affinity for the arts doesn’t end at dance: Ria, along with her brother and cousins, picked up the electric guitar at the age of 11, when she spontaneously decided to play and learn an instrument.

“The struggle with trying to get a note right or trying to put a song together is something I actually like about guitar,” she said. “It pushes me to work on it more and practice more. Every time I hear a song I’ve played on guitar, it’s a special connection for me. As it plays, I can hear myself and imagine myself switching through the cords and the notes. It’s just given me a special connection to music.”

Ria strives for resilience in everything she does, and that doesn’t stop when presented with the real world.

“I think of myself as caring about being feminist. It’s not necessary saying ‘hey, I’m feminist!’ or going to all those feminist rallies, I just never want anyone to think that I can’t do something just because I’m a girl, or that I’m worse than someone just because they’re a guy, or that guys are more capable. Making it clear to everyone that I’m not lesser, or no girl is just because they are a girl, is really important to me,” she said.

Ria advances her feminist mission by taking little steps in her everyday life.

“One time, we were doing this drill with guys, and part of it involved conditioning,” Ria said. “He said, ‘guys, do 10 pushups and 10 crunches, and girls, do 5 pushups and 5 crunches.’ I had the entire girls’ team do 10 pushups. It kind of irritates me when people think that girls can’t do something or that guys can do it more or better.”