Tweet. The sound of the referee’s whistle signals the end of the play, and as the pile of football players disassembles, only one remains on the ground: senior Sahil Varma, huddled tight, grasping the football close to his chest. Grabbing onto a teammate’s hand, he hoists himself up, shrugging off his bruises and preparing himself for the next play. After the close game, when the adrenaline runs dry, every ounce of his body seems to resist his conscience. When he sits down on the locker room bench after the game, he finds himself unable to get up.

As a student-athlete, Sahil was inspired by this experience to create a company, Wrap It Recovery, alongside his friends. They developed a heating and cooling compression wrap for players who strive for efficient recovery from their soreness, enabling them to play at their full potential every game. As the company grew, Sahil fell closer in love with the ideas of business and entrepreneurship, interests that were not naturally intrinsic to him. 

“I noticed a big difference from when I engaged in forced activities to when I was doing things that I actually wanted to do,” Sahil said. “I realized I don’t care as much about investing, for example, and I would rather focus my efforts on incubator and creating a business. It is important to acknowledge the different aspects of what you think is gonna happen, but just be open to that path and let it change.”

Despite initially intending to follow in his brother’s footsteps and replicate his high school career verbatim, Sahil found much greater satisfaction in pursuing his own hobbies. However, in forging his own path, Sahil faced many setbacks. He often disagreed with his colleagues about plans, designs and business decisions.  However, Sahil persisted and started to take initiative, steering his team towards a product that met everyone’s unique standards.

“Two things to find that motivation were finding a good group of people to be surrounded with; people who can be friends and also be business partners,” Sahil said. “Also, having that internal dialogue and knowing whether or not this is something you would do beyond just a grade or college resume was important to me.”

Completing assignments solely for a grade or credit aggravates Sahil. He believes in speaking past superficial words on paper and aims to fully understand concepts and their real-world applications to delve further in the subject. This can be seen when Sahil first entered the world of business in one of his favorite classes: AP Economics, taught by economics teacher Samuel Lepler. 

“Sahil’s not the most outspoken student that I’ve had,” Lepler said. “Some students are constantly chiming in all the time, but he struck me as someone more thoughtful, who certainly participated, but not haphazardly. It was always a bit more thoughtful, a bit more calculated, not in a bad way, but in a good way, where his answers and his contributions would be well thought out.”

Due to Sahil’s ability to disagree with others through debates and arguments, he can provoke insightful questions and provide well-thought-out answers. Sahil uses his voice to express his opinions, even if they are against the general consensus.

“A lot of people know me as someone who’s not going to filter,” Sahil said. “I’m not going to filter myself for others, and I’m not going to say something that I don’t believe in just for the sake of making other people happy.”

Sahil strives to look at life through a broader perspective, spending more time on the activities and hobbies that interest him and leaving others that don’t interest him. Close friend senior Tej Aswani reflects on Sahil’s growth over the past few years.

“As the years went by, he got a lot more mature,” Tej said. “I would hang out with him and we would only play video games earlier, but now we’re talking about pretty much everything; we just grew a lot closer. He has gotten more mature and still fun to hang out with.”

Sahil embodies maturity through actions and conversations with those he is close with. As a result, his personality rubs off on others at times. Close friend senior Kylie Anderson appreciates Sahil’s kind nature as their friendship progressed over time. 

“Given the age we’re at, a lot of guys that I’m friends with are a little unkind,” Kylie said. “Sahil’s kindness and empathy towards other people is lacking among others, and something I admire about him. He caused me to mature a lot. Getting close with him has distanced me from people who didn’t bring out the best side of me, and I’ve stopped caring about the unimportant things that in the end don’t really mean anything.”

Sahil has learned the value of creating his own path, influenced by others but ultimately decided through his personal experiences, while also striving to be a better role model for those around him. Whether it be an upcoming AP United States History test or a failed quiz, Sahil understands the insignificance of his minor worries and failures in the face of his accomplishments and the vast number of experiences he will encounter in the future.

“Take a step back and realize how insignificant a lot of the things that we’re stressing about are, and focus on what’s important to you,” Sahil said. “Don’t get emotional and care about every small little detail; just let things happen. Pick what matters to you most and don’t get bogged down in the small details.”