32 seconds. The scoreboard reads 62-61, with the opposing team up by a single point. A whistle’s shriek pierces the air, signaling the inbounding of the ball. Catching the inbound ball, the point guard takes a few dribbles, looking into the face of his defender, then makes a bounce-pass to his open teammate down in the key. Pivoting, the opposing teammate turns to the basket, brings the ball up and releases it tensely.

Meanwhile, a nifty defender has switched onto him and has positioned himself mere inches behind. Ray Wang (12) jumps, reaching his long arm over his assignment, blocking the shot and grabbing the ball out of midair. 

Pushing the ball out in front of him, Ray dribbles and runs down the length of the court with six seconds left. A single defender catches up with him on his fastbreak, daring him to shoot a well-contested shot with five seconds left. Pump faking and catching his defender jumping for joy, in a quick burst of speed, Ray drives forward to the hoop, scoring the easy layup just in time before the scoreboard’s ear-splitting screech. Racing over, Ray joins his teammates as they whoop and cheer to celebrate their down-to-the-wire victory.

Ever since third grade, Ray has called the basketball court his home. Nevertheless, it still took him years of practice before he gained a level of consistency that enabled him to play as a leader with an air of confidence regardless of whether he had the ball in or out of his hands.

“[Back at a summer camp at the lower school,] we were doing dribbling drills, which I couldn’t do. I got super frustrated and didn’t feel like playing anymore, and my coach comes up and says something very unexpected to me like, ‘Nobody’s [going] to feel sorry for you. You have to get back up and keep trying until you get it,’” Ray said. “That was a big wake up call for me and I learned that I had to stop getting so frustrated and instead channel that energy into putting my head down and playing basketball.”

Nowadays, Ray keeps himself out of his head and lays it all out on the court, giving his best not only to himself but also to his team, to which he refers as a “brotherhood.” His dedication and energy don’t go unnoticed by his teammates.

Arjun Virmani (12), his teammate since fourth grade, admires Ray’s leadership and his constant attention not only to his teammates, but also the smallest details on the court.

“[Ray] really prides himself on defense and he takes on the task of communicating with every teammate on the court to make sure our defense is successful. The best part is, even when he’s off the court and on the bench, he’s the only dude yelling, ‘Mark your man!’” Arjun said. “Him communicating with the rest of us makes our job easier so I think he’s definitely been a leader on the defensive end.”

His passionate interactions also make their way past the court and into his conversations with his friends. His friends observe how oftentimes delving into deep and intricate topics with Ray are some of their most memorable moments. For friend Jason Kwok (12), these discussions take the form of debates that are solely about showing each other the different sides of a topic, rather than about pride.

“[Ray] wants to interact with people to find new perspectives. That’s why one of his favorite classes is [economics] because it explains how people work. I feel like the reason why he always wants to get to know people better is to learn why people act the way they do. He’s driven to find new ideas to view life differently,” Jason said.

It is not only debates where Ray’s social prowess shines. Even in his everyday interactions with his friends, his charismatic personality always manages to get his peers involved in stimulating conversations.

“When Ray is talking about something he is really enthusiastic about, it’s hard not to hear even from the other side of campus. His energy is infectious [and it] spreads to whoever he’s talking to. I feel like part of what makes him such a great person to talk to is how he’s never afraid to speak up, like especially with Zoom, even when other people are quiet or shy, you can always count on him to start an interesting conversation,” longtime friend Kishan Sood (12) said.

Ray explains another motivation behind his constant attempts to spark conversations with everyone around him and behind the energy he displays in each of his interactions.

“One thing that this pandemic has proven is that I really feed off of social interaction. Being able to talk with other people like my friends has been really valuable to me — even though we may not be face-to-face, it’s important to me that we talk about the things that we’re all passionate about — like basketball, or video games or even K-pop,” Ray said. “It’s made me realize how important all these connections are and how much we’ve all taken for granted.”

At the end of the day, Ray strives to pursue what he finds meaningful and keep an open mindset.

“I’ve always done my best to keep an open mind and try everything just once. You won’t ever know if you’ll like something if you never attempt it and that’s what I strive to do. At the end of the day, I just want to spend my time pursuing things that I actually enjoy doing. I’m going to do the things that are genuinely meaningful to me — things that give me the outlet I need to impact others,” he said.