As a student passionate about medicine from an early age, Suman Mohanty (12) quite expectedly spends most of her free time volunteering at her local hospital. But her favorite part of the work isn’t what you might think. Sure, she enjoys bringing up newspapers and warm towels to make patients feel comfortable and loves sharing their joy when they finally go home, but her greatest joy at the hospital is a smaller, equally significant task: giving directions to hospital visitors and patients. And there’s a twist: she strives to do so in the visitors’ preferred languages.

“It’s a really enjoyable experience for me, because, first of all, I’m able to help people [feel] a little more comfortable at the hospital. And second of all, I get to connect with so many different people,” Suman said. “And oftentimes, they’re a lot more comfortable with sharing their story with me or telling me something about them that they wouldn’t have otherwise said.”

Helping people is at the core of everything Suman does, from the smallest of pursuits, such as giving directions, to her more large-scale projects. 

As president of the Medical Club and co-president of Harker UNICEF and Red Cross, Suman values the opportunity to lead others towards her goal of spreading goodwill. Whenever she organizes an event for underclassmen, she is proud to be able to nurture their interest in medicine. While imagining the number of people these students could go on to help, Suman is inspired to guide them along their journeys.

“I don’t think that I’m changing the world by myself, but I think that with everyone coming together to do their part there [can be] a lot of impact,” Suman said. “If we have so many more people interested in medicine because of clubs like this, they’re going to go off and help a bunch of people.”

Suman’s kindness extends to all aspects of her life, including her interactions with her friends. She never wishes for anyone around her to feel unhappy or left out, as she understands how she would feel in their place.

“Suman is the first person in our friend group to notice if anything is wrong,” close friend Arusha Patil (12) said. “She picks up on small nonverbal cues in any sort of interaction and then goes the extra mile to help her friends.”

Suman’s ability to exude warmth and positivity translated strikingly into the classroom as well. Upper school computer science teacher Susan King, who taught Suman AP Computer Science in her eleventh grade, notes her positive presence in class. 

“Every day, Suman would walk into class with such cheerfulness and joy that it radiated from her,” King said. “She embrace[s] life and treat[s] everyone around her with respect and dignity.”

Suman’s affability has always been at the forefront of her personality, but friends and faculty close to her have noticed her become more self-confident and driven as well. She has developed remarkably as a leader both in the classroom and in her community. 

“Her warmth and friendly nature came across from the first day. But the fiery side was not part of my first impression,” upper school English teacher Brigid Miller, who taught Suman in her eleventh grade, said. “She gained confidence and became more outspoken as the year went on. Nothing was going to hold her back from sharing her opinion. That demanding her space, I saw that growth over time.”

Close friend Nilisha Baid (12) has also witnessed Suman’s growth and admires her resilience.

“She’s so much more sure of herself,” Nilisha said. “She’s stressed sometimes—everybody’s stressed sometimes, but she still finds a way to be positive and get through that in a really positive way.”

Despite aspiring to be a doctor, Suman was not interested in conducting research at the outset of her high school career. Her mindset changed, however, when her mission to help others through medicine became personal.

“My grandmother got diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. And that’s one of the reasons I want to be a doctor . . . I want to be able to help when that situation happens,” Suman said. “But I was sitting there thinking, ‘Why can’t I do anything now?’” 

Seeking clarity and more information, she reached out to professors from many universities, eventually co-authoring a Stanford paper that proposed possible advancements in chronic kidney disease patient care. 

Her first taste of research sparked the drive and enthusiasm to make a difference that is now palpable in any exchange with Suman. This experience serves almost as Suman’s superhero origin story, helping her evolve into a leader extremely comfortable engaging in, and taking action for, different issues. 

“What wakes me up in the morning and what keeps me up at night is the fact that I feel like I have a responsibility to do what I can and to take that extra step to help someone somewhere in the world,” Suman said. “I want to be remembered through the stories of what people experienced being with me rather than being remembered as a bunch of titles.”