As the buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the first half of the game, the varsity girls water polo team meets at the edge of the pool. Palo Alto High School leads by multiple goals, but the game is not over yet. Co-captain Jasleen Hansra (12) steps up to rally the Eagles and uplift the team morale. And it proved a success: the game ended in a close 10-9 win.

Close friend and teammate Summer Adler (10) fondly remembers the game and Jasleen’s determination to carry the team to victory that night.

“She’s fun, but she can also be serious if you need it, and she’s determined,” Summer said. “[The game] was a close matchup, but they were beating us by a lot, and Jasleen really wanted to win the game. At halftime, I heard her say, ‘I really want to win this,’ and in the next quarter she scored four goals. Her effort was really great, and I admired her drive.”

As a water polo player since second grade, Jasleen has learned the importance of dependability in the sport, from taking responsibility for her actions in the pool to supporting the underclassmen on the team.

“Being on a water polo team, there’s a lot that you have to be accountable for,” Jasleen said. “You need to be an accountable player for your teammates, and they need you to be there. If you make a mistake, it’s on you to learn how to fix that next time.”

Jasleen’s sense of personal accountability drives her to stay true to her own values. Her friends’ descriptions of her range from unrelenting to funny, but one word is frequently mentioned when talking about Jasleen: unapologetic. With a strong sense of self, she stands firm for what she believes in and does not compromise on that which she does not. 

“Jasleen is very sure of what she wants and what she doesn’t want, whether academically or with a friend,” close friend Rachel Ning (12) said. “If she doesn’t think something is right, she won’t associate herself with it, and in that sense, she’s very strong-minded. She’s passionate about the things that she does.”

Jasleen’s motto of  “do it for you” reflects her desire to shape her own path and live comfortably with her own identity. She embraces the idea of focusing first on her own needs rather than conforming to others’ expectations.

“Everything I’m doing is for myself, which goes back to learning how to be unapologetic about who I am and being comfortable with who I am,” Jasleen said. “I used to go out of my way to make other people comfortable, so something I really want to stick by is making sure that I’m putting myself first.”

Internalizing this value helped Jasleen develop her confidence. Before the pandemic, Jasleen, who identifies as Punjabi Sikh, felt reluctant to truly understand and embrace her religion. Yet, as she sought to learn more about her culture, she became more open about being Punjabi Sikh.

“There are not a lot of people who identify as Punjabi Sikh, so I used to really distance myself from it,” Jasleen said. “But over quarantine, I was forced to sit with myself and figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. I started learning about my religion and history and realized how much I appreciate it. Now, I’m proud to say that I am who I am.”

Upper school mathematics teacher Caren Furtado, who taught Jasleen during her junior year, observed her grow more comfortable with her culture and work to establish a Sikhism affinity group, pushing through administrative obstacles with determination.

“[I would advise her] to bring her joy and that spark she has everywhere,” Furtado said. “She started a Sikh club last year, and she has not given up. She’s a second-semester senior, but she’s still keeping at it. That’s what she needs to carry with her everywhere: that determination and grit.”

Jasleen now engages with her local cultural community through her volunteer work at the Sikh Gurdwara, raising money for the homeless and encouraging elderly people to make their voices heard through voting. By embracing her spiritual and social identity, she looks forward with an empowered sense of herself and what she can do.