Arya Mahajan is a senior at Urbana High School. She is heavily involved in many school activities as she is the President of the Helping Hands Club, a member of National Honors Society, National Tech Honors Society, Tri-M, Rho Kappa, National Math Honors Society & National English Honors Society. While Arya is the type of person to sit in the back of the class and roam the halls quietly, she does have a bright and energetic side which you will find out when you get to know her. She is also fluent in not only English but Hindi too.

Arya has a love for music. She has been involved in choir since the third grade and plays piano. She comes from a very musical family hence her love for music. Arya also has a genetic heart disease called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) which prevents her from doing things such as sports so music has always been something she has turned to. “As difficult as it is to be living with HCM, I must make the most out of the hand I was dealt, which is something my dad taught me as he also has the same condition.” She was in both show choir and concert choir during her junior year and goes to music class at Sloan School of Music every Thursday evening. No matter what Arya is doing, music will somehow always be surrounding her whether it’s her singing, listening to music in her AirPods, or simply playing the piano at home. Arya also enjoys reading and writing. Romance is her favorite genre to read about and poetry is her favorite thing to write. She has written many poems that have been published on The Quill, her one favorite being “Can’t Make It On Your Own.” Writing inspires her to grow each and every single day as she writes down her emotions and turns them into pieces of art, which help her learn from her mistakes.

As Arya’s journey at UHS is closely coming to an end, she is reminiscing on the memories she has made throughout her high school career as well as living it day by day. “I’ve learned that it is better to live in the present despite being overwhelmed by the past and future. Why? Because I know I only get one life and I’ve got to use it as wisely as possible. Life’s a gift, even when it seems like everything is falling apart. I’ve learned that I must fall down to get back up again.” As much as the idea of college scares her, she is also ready to face the halls of UMD when the day arrives.