3… 2… 1. Blastoff! The model rocket launches thousands of feet in the air as Dhruv Trivedi (12) observes the arc of its path. Seeing the model glide through the air, Dhruv imagines that one day he could be sitting inside a similar rocket. 

Looking at stars fascinated Dhruv from a young age, and his passion for astronomy grew when he participated in an astronomy program during middle school. Additionally, his family named him after the Sanskrit word for ‘North Star’ and taught him the importance of the positions of stars in the sky, which furthered his interest before he began his research.

“When I grew up, my grandparents told me stories like ‘you were born at this time, that’s a good sign,’” Dhruv said. “So I think I’ve always been curious about stories initially, and as I got older. I started learning more about stars and the science and engineering side, and that’s what started to draw me in more.

In high school, Dhruv’s interest in astronomy expanded, with him beginning to do research on different astronomical topics. At times, Dhruv found it difficult to find a starting point for his research, but eventually with the help of a mentor discovered a way to begin: by simply telling a story.

“I found myself kind of confused on where to start and how to proceed with astronomy research,” Dhruv said. “I had a research mentor who told me to not worry about the different directions people have taken the research, and just try to tell a story. I think approaching it from a storytelling lens has helped me overcome the fact that so many other people are doing this research.”

During junior year, Dhruv worked on a project about classifying different types of stars based on their main elements. After all of this work, he felt incredibly relieved after being accepted to present at a conference and excited that other people could use his research to further understand 

“I was working to submit to this conference, and I was working non-stop and put a lot of effort into it,” Dhruv said. “And, when I got that email that I was able to present, I felt really happy in that moment, because as more people know about this, I’m intrigued to see the way that different people interpret my results and take them in their own direction and expand what we know already.”

Close friend Gordy Sun (12) met Dhruv during the pandemic and noticed how Dhruv’s optimistic personality always helps to get him through occasional bad days.

“He’s always upbeat, every time I see him he’s always in a good mood,” Gordy said. “I think I’m a fairly jovial person most of the time, but sometimes I have bad days. And I’m sure Dhruv has bad days too, but he’s always so happy that it rubs off on other people and it’s amazing.”

Andrew Smith (12) also met Dhruv during the pandemic in advisory, where Dhruv had a reputation for having a jovial and light-hearted personality. Throughout the next couple of years, they became good friends, hanging out together during lunches and after school.

“We have some similar tastes in comedy,” Andrew said. “And so we will share things on social media together and take a peek and laugh about them. There doesn’t always have to be a lot of substance, but I love just hanging out and talking with him.”

Physics and science research teacher Chris Spenner first taught Dhruv in physics over junior year, where Dhruv quickly expressed his interest in astronomy. For the future, Spenner advised Dhruv to keep an open mind to research and explore other scientific topics.

“It’s really easy when you get into science to just zero in on the topic you’re investigating, and kind of have blinders on to everything else,” Spenner said. “Even if he’s doing astronomy, which is often done more for intellectual understanding of the universe, it’s still important to have some kind of grounding, and I think he will do that, as it’s in his nature.”