Looking at the big picture, Aditi Bharti (12) prefers to take life day by day. As she talks through her experiences and offers words of wisdom, a growing look of passion emerges upon her face.

“We all have feelings and we all think what we think and have the perspectives that we have because of where we came from, because of our upbringing, our experiences,” Aditi said. “If we live more in the gray of the world, people would realize that there’s more to a person than just what [people] disagree on.”

In her discussions with people, she always keeps in mind everyone’s individual expectations and differences. Loyalty and respect are qualities Aditi strongly believes people should show more often towards each other. Her morals and open-mindedness have led her to an engaging life full of meaning and substance.

In a time when the country is so polarized and politicized, she believes empathy is essential for people to see one another’s perspective and understand that others might not necessarily be wrong.

“I value empathy a lot … being able to see [people] and see that I’m able to help them in a way that they don’t find anywhere else,” she said. “That’s what I’m proud of – just being able to be there for people and have empathy.” 

As someone who treasures close relationships, Aditi has always been there for her friends. Friend Callie Mayer (11) has grown close to Aditi through their shared interest in choir.

“She’s one of the most down to earth and dependable people I’ve ever met. And she’s the type of person that you can really count on for anything,” Callie said. “Everybody will call her the therapist friend because she has such a good heart. And she is just so full of wisdom as a person. She’s kind of an old soul.”

Aditi started her freshman year in Harker with plans to forge ahead in STEM and participate in science fairs. When things didn’t work out quite the way she had planned, Aditi chose to be adventurous and tried various other activities in the performing arts.

“Harker is such a great place where you can try all these different things and see what you like. I did a lot of different things that I [didn’t] think I would have. I decided to say, ‘I’m going to go with the flow, I’m going to put [the plan] to the side for now and take in all these experiences,’” Aditi said.

Through the process of finding her passion, writing has become a helpful outlet for Aditi since she can tap into her emotions effectively. Upper school English teacher Brigid Miller has watched Aditi mature through her American Literature and Graphic Narrative class.

“Her writing has a kind of voice behind it that’s strong … She’s really grown into being quite a brilliant … analyst of literature,” Miller said.

Other than writing, Aditi uses acting to express her feelings. When on stage, she is no longer the introverted perfectionist. Successfully portraying her desired character and giving her best performance is the satisfaction she needs to keep doing it.

“Every time I finish a performance or I’m done with rehearsal or accomplish something on stage, it brings me so much satisfaction because I know that it’s taken a lot from me just to get up there,” Aditi said.

Close friend Sarina Sharma (12) admires Aditi for her determination and enthusiasm she has towards her goals.

“She’s naturally an introvert, so I think sometimes it’s difficult to get up on stage and perform, but that’s one of her passions [and it’s so admirable],” Sarina said.

Aditi gets her motivation and inspiration from her family, especially her dad. She has seen her dad work hard for his achievements, and that drives her to do the same. The love and support she gets from her family in handling emotional situations has given her the confidence that she needs to step out into the world.

“[A family member has] become the pillar of keeping all [of us] up when we should be supporting them … Seeing them rise to the occasion, I [now] know for a fact that we’ll all be okay,” she said. “I’ll be okay when I go to college [and] they’ll be okay when I leave [even though] we do tend to rely on each other for a lot of things.”

Besides frequently challenging herself, learning the fine line between caring too much and just letting go is something Aditi is continuing to perfect.

“If I can get to a point where when I look back in my life … and I’m happy with the decisions I made, that’s all I could ask for,” Aditi said. “I want to make decisions for myself and nobody else and be [satisfied]  with where I’m at. But more than that, just [being] at peace with [myself].”