Dressed in his bright class colors and surrounded by his friends, an easy grin appears on Gowtham Irrinki’s (12) face before he yells, pitching into the loud and playful chorus of his peers and rallying for his class.

“I enjoy participating in spirit rallies. When my best friend was spirit commissioner, I really enjoyed being with him when he would conduct spirit rallies, and I’ll be on the side hyping him up,” Gowtham said.

Gowtham enjoys supporting his friends in not only spirit rallies but in anything they do. He is dependable, always being there for his friends and open-minded about exploring new horizons with them.

Anmol Velagapudi (12), who has been friends with Gowtham since elementary school, appreciates Gowtham’s ability to put his community first and get outside his comfort zone.

“He’s outgoing and he won’t leave you in the dust: if you’re trying something new, he’s willing to try it with you. He’s really open to a lot of things in that sense,” Anmol said.

Gowtham has also enjoyed spirit rallies simply for the fun of it, being able to let go of everything and spend time with the community around him.

“When school was in session, any chance we had to be loud or yell, [I took it]—[from] the yelling competitions to the color days, they were fun,” Gowtham said.

The first spirit event Gowtham attended was a water balloon fight in elementary school. Throughout the years, he’s continued to embrace the people around him and participate in these fun events, being grateful for the memories that they have given him.

“Ever since that starting moment in fourth grade [with] the water balloon fight with the teachers and students all the way to spirit rallies in high school, it’s given me a sense of community and sense of friendship that I only get from a place like Harker,” Gowtham said.

Spirit events have allowed Gowtham to become closer to Harker peers. He appreciates how, over the years, his time at Harker has always been suffused with the support and continued kindness of the Harker community.

“I definitely like our community. I enjoy it being a real safe space: there’s no disrespect anywhere. People make you feel comfortable,” Gowtham said.

Gowtham has treasured even smaller moments like the long lunch period because it gives him the chance to connect with his friends and share joy with them.

“Long lunch is one of the best things about Harker. Playing football on Davis [field] during a long lunch [is a time to] wild out and have fun,” Gowtham said. “After we come together, after people crack jokes or play music or go hang out, I enjoy seeing everybody smile. People having a good time makes me have a good time.”

In connection with how much he values the community surrounding him at Harker, Gowtham gives back to the community with the generosity he has towards the people around him. He remains considerate and is always willing to listen and be a good friend for someone.

“I want to be remembered for putting other people’s emotions before mine. Whenever I talk to anyone I feel like I want to solve their problem first before I even talk about mine,” Gowtham said. “I always want to be a good friend to people; when we were at school I’d always want anyone to feel comfortable.”

In addition to his love for community, Gowtham enjoys producing music outside of school. What has kept him going in these endeavors has been the support of the world around him.

“I can spend hours and hours on [my music] so that’s the first. The next thing that keeps me going is support from friends and people on the internet, who don’t even know my real name, who bought my [music],” Gowtham said.

Being involved in music has allowed Gowtham to embrace the creative process that merges both epiphanies and difficulties. He has gained optimism in understanding the fluidity that comes with working in creative ways.

“Producing music taught me work ethic, it taught me how to be creative and how to deal with creative blocks because there’s a lot of those and a lot of people find that to be a major setback,” Gowtham said. “But you can use it to your advantage in a way: everything always goes up and down, you can’t always have it go up. You can use the downtime to work on something else, or to perfect something else.”

Upper school director of community service Kerry Enzensperger, who is Gowtham’s adviser, has watched him grow in his talents and fascination with music over the years. In the future, she would give Gowtham the advice to continue pursuing what he believes in, staying true to himself.

“I would encourage Gowtham to continue to believe in himself, and to follow his passion.” Enzensperger said. “With his music he’s incredibly talented, and I’m sure sometimes he might doubt himself [regarding whether] he’s on the right career path or doing the right thing … but I believe that Gotham would take himself far because he is so talented.”

Longtime close friend Arjun Virmani (12) appreciates Gowtham’s ability to maintain his untroubled and playful personality while dedicating himself to his work, paying steadfast attention to his craft.

“He’s pretty carefree, but when he’s making his music, he’s super detail-oriented: he wants to make sure that every little musical note is perfectly in pitch with his voice,” Arjun said. “Even if it’s just the layout of his room, his stuff is just neatly organized, his whole workspace is meticulously planned out when he’s in that zone.”

Outside of his more professional experience making music, Gowtham enjoys being able to spend time exploring the realm of music in a casual environment. Arjun treasures the memory of driving with Gowtham and listening to music with him.

“One thing that we both love to do is blasting music in the car. He’s one guy you can play any song to, and we will both know the words, we will jam out, we will let loose and forget about everything in the world,” Arjun said.