Chinmay Gopi.
One student at Fargo North is very successful in and out of the classroom and is involved in lots of extracurricular activities. That student is Sophomore Chinmay Gopi. Gopi is a busy man involved in Speech and Debate, Knowledge Bowl, orchestra, Student Council, piano, Taekwondo, and in the past has been in spelling bees. Above all, though, he still finds time to be with his family and friends and be a kind person.
Gopi lives with his mom Sini, his dad Sreejith, sister Chaitanya, grandparents, and dog named Suki. He loves to spend time with his family, with his favorite activities being going on vacation and watching movies with them. Gopi’s favorite movie is Ratatouille, saying, “I love how the plot is so simple but is executed in such a sophisticated way.” His favorite place he has visited is India because he gets to see many of his relatives who he never gets to see and loves to spend time and hang out with them.
Gopi enjoys activities like being with friends, reading, fishing, and playing video games. His favorite book he has read is Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” He loves going fishing and catching bass because they put up a good fight. His favorite video game is Fortnite because it is thrilling and he can play with friends. When talking to one of Gopi’s friends Leo Yan, he said, “He is always so kind and never makes anyone mad. Even though he’s good at lots of things and super smart, he doesn’t have a big ego and he is very humble.”
He loves learning about science and math and said that his favorite subject “depends on the day and the class” but he loves physics because it combines math and science. Gopi was involved in the Science Olympiad in the past and would always tell fun stories about it to friends. “Once at state Science Olympiad, I had $2 and one of my friends (Sully Lynch) had $5, so we traded so that he could use the vending machine.” He made it to state and got third place in seventh grade, and finished second place in eighth grade.
Gopi loves being involved in Speech and Debate because he informs people about topics they normally wouldn’t learn about and said he loves teaching people but also says he would never want to actually be a teacher. Last year at EDC, Gopi was a quarterfinalist for the Public Forum Debate. “I really love Speech and Debate because of the team. I have made so many friends because of this program. I enjoy learning from and with my teammates.”
In orchestra, Gopi plays the violin. His favorite piece of music he has played is Dvorak’s New World Symphony because he likes the way the song changes moods very smoothly and loves the transition between parts of the song. He said, “I love the New World Symphony because of how the mood changes so seamlessly. It can go from energetic to peaceful very quickly, but it all sounds coherent.”
Gopi is in Student Council, something he enjoys; he loves all of the people in the student council and how they make him a better student and person. He said, “I get to volunteer at places I normally wouldn’t and doing that makes me feel closer to my community.” Overall, he just loves his community and just wants to help everyone he can.
Some of Gopi’s accomplishments include winning the state Acalympics competition, as well as winning districts for Taekwondo and going to worlds. When Gopi gets done with college he wants to have a career in the science or medical field and said, “I just want to take it one thing at a time and do my best at everything.”
He truly started learning when he was little when he and his dad would watch lots of National Geographic and read books together. His favorite class is AP European History because he likes Mr. Zens’ lectures and his favorite teacher is Mr. Schultz for orchestra.
All of these things are possible if you put your mind to it. Like Gopi, you can work hard, study hard, and compete hard while still being humble. With perseverance, you can get through tough times. With compassion, you can lift others up out of their own troubles. With confidence you can pull others along with yourself towards excellence. But all in all you don’t need to be perfect, you just need to try your best and do what makes you happy.
