In any baking recipe, regardless of what you’re baking or which ingredients you use, there’s always a factor of transforming a mixture of raw ingredients into a delicious final product. Senior Namratha Yadalla began baking back when COVID-19 hit. As she sifts through her last year at Oak Park High School, she takes the initiative to use classes and extracurricular activities as her ingredients, and fiery passion as an oven for exploring all fields of education to mold herself into the gracious, ambitious person she is today.
Yadalla avoids endless scrolling on social media by baking—a self-soothing activity that she can do to relax the mind while also spending less time on a screen.
“I got into baking during COVID; it started pretty small,” Yadalla said. “It started out with making a mug cake every time somebody came over, and [then] I started exploring more things, [and baking more]. One month, I remember making strawberry shortcake three times. I don’t bake as much as I used to anymore because of high school, but when it’s people’s birthdays or if they ask me to bake, I do it because it’s a nice way to express gratitude, it’s something I enjoy, and it’s not arduous for me to make. It’s nice to see other people enjoy the food I made, so it’s rewarding in a couple different ways.”
Through the midst of elementary school, middle school and high school, Yadalla has been an avid participant in numerous extracurricular activities and has led by example in all of them. Notably, as a six-year member of the mock trial team at OPHS, she has used her experience to mentor and lead students back at the middle school as a coach.
“I was one of the coaches for our middle school team,” Yadalla said. “We coached them, made teams and taught them everything they needed to know. It’s definitely a big leadership role that I have and it’s such a great feeling to be able to help out.”
In addition to helping out the middle school, she’s also always actively involved in collaborating with writing and editing scripts, spending more than three hours a week looking through documents and selecting evidence for her case. In the beginning of freshman year, her role switched from being a witness to an attorney. Although this was unexpected, this helped her grow as a mock trial member, experience change within the program and has encouraged her to help other people who might also be going through the same process.
“Every year, we get a lot of new people, and since this is something I’ve been doing for so long, [six years and counting]. I definitely think that I feel more comfortable helping people out when they need it,” Yadalla said. “Mock trial is the biggest leadership position that I’ve held, simply because of the fact that I’ve been in a setting where I’m one of the people with the most experience as a senior. It gives me the opportunity to help others because I see myself in them because I was once a witness and now an attorney.”
Mock trial first made an impact on Yadalla’s life when she was in elementary school helping her older sister practice lines for decorum day. The hours she spent exposed to the material encouraged her to try out for the mock trial team in 6th grade. Although she was originally denied a spot on the team, she tried out again in seventh grade and earned a spot as a witness. After being a part of the team for two years, she continued her journey all throughout high school, not only for the excitement of writing, editing and performing, but also because of the friendly team culture.
“I really liked it because of the team,” Yadalla said. “Being in a team environment [like this], you get to make friends outside of what you would usually expect. Most of the friends I made in mock trial, I don’t think I would’ve gotten the opportunity to talk to them otherwise.”
Similarly with getting exposure to mock trial earlier on in Yadalla’s educational years, she was also introduced to Carnatic singing at a young age through her older sister. At age five, she started taking lessons every week, and after taking a liking to this musical endeavor, it has since become a staple in her life.
“Music has been a part of my life forever,” Yadalla said. “I started at five or six-years-old, and I stayed with the same teacher. For the most part, the kids that I started learning with, I still learn with today, so it’s a big community.”
As an experienced singer, Yadalla takes on more responsibility as a leader of her program.
“I have a class production coming up on Oct. 25, so we’re going to start ramping up rehearsals every weekend,” Yadalla said. “Usually, classes on Saturday mornings are an hour long, but now that we’re learning more songs at a quicker speed, rehearsals tend to extend to an hour and a half to two hours. Since I’m one of the seniors, I’ll be singing for three hours. It’s going to be intense.”
Finding a passion and choosing to pursue it on your own terms rather than somebody else’s is never easy. Although Yadalla is incredibly devoted to Carnatic singing now, this was not always the case.
“When I was younger, I wasn’t really into it,” Yadalla said. “When I was in eighth and ninth grade, it shifted into something that I wanted to do. It was no longer a routine, it became something I looked forward to.”
In addition to mock trial and singing, Yadalla is a member of the Medical Explorers program and a volunteer at the Los Robles hospital, where she gets valuable insight about the practices in the medical field from doctors, emergency medicine programs, police officers, EMS practitioners and other people who work behind the scenes to save lives.
“I found out about this program through family friends, and decided to join not only because it’s pretty good for college applications, but also because it’s nice to get exposure into the field,” Yadalla said. “I’ve learned how to take vitals, put in IVs and have learned how to suture. As a volunteer, I do things like food deliveries, discharges, and bringing clothes to patients.”
Her time at the hospital as both a member of the Medical Explorers and a volunteer has inspired her to continue this type of education after her high school graduation. Yadalla notes that although she won’t be a part of the program in a year, she will take all the knowledge she’s gained over the past two years with her into college. Hoping for a spot at Case Western, Johns Hopkins or any other school that will provide meaningful medical education, she looks forward to good research institutions and opportunities along with a nice campus near the big city.
“[The great thing about this program is that] even if you want to pivot and be a business major, the skill-set you learn is very important; you could save a life with it,” Yadallab said. “I definitely want to go into the medical field, maybe find more programs, see what I can do to help others and see what I should do in an emergency situation.”
Yadalla’s passion for medicine and challenge doesn’t only show in her extracurricular activities, but also the rigor of her school class schedule. She notes that in all her years of being at OPHS, she’s not only had the opportunity to retain valuable information, but has also gained a variety of insightful knowledge in terms of picking up new studying tactics, managing stress and looking forward to what’s next to come.
“Last year, AP Chemistry and AP Calculus BC were definitely testing,” Yadalla said. “I expected them to be hard but when you’re actually in class, it tests you in a different way, especially when up until [AP Chemistry] I’ve never really struggled with a science class. Taking AP Chemistry was especially different, I had to change my frequency of studying and realized that you had to study on your own terms since there was no homework. Throughout the semester and year, I got better at understanding what I had to do personally, what works and what doesn’t. I’ve gotten to a point where I understand if I do bad one semester, there’s always next semester. That mindset helps reduce stress.”
Balancing all her classes and extracurriculars, Yadalla admits that most of the pressure comes not from family and friends, but herself. The expectations she sets for herself, although stressful, have pushed her to become the well-accomplished student she is today.
“I definitely get stressed, but I feel like I’m pretty good with being able to make sure that the stress doesn’t get to me,” Yadalla said. “Going into my junior year, my parents, specifically my mom, asked me if I was sure if I could handle all the heavy courses I had chosen. [In the end], I chose to take those classes, it was up to me. I think that’s just the type of person I am. I don’t enjoy classes as much if they’re easier. More challenging classes, even if it means more effort [and pressure], is more rewarding as I feel like I’m being pushed and challenged.”
With Yadalla constantly pushing herself to be better, her parents know that stressing her out with criticism won’t help. Instead, they encourage her to take it easier and tell her that even if she were to end with a B, that everything will be A-ok.
“They want me to do well, more than anything they want me to give it my all and do my best,” Yadalla said, “My entire life growing up, my parents expressed that education is important, and to prioritize that. They obviously want me to get good grades, but when I stress a lot before tests, like when I had a mental breakdown before my chemistry final, my mom was like ‘it’s ok, if you get a B, you get a B, it’s not the end of the world.’”
As Yadalla reflects back on all the challenges she’s faced, all the hardships she’s endured and how she’s overcome them, she expresses her desire for more people to focus on mental and physical health.
“There’s this one rule I follow, if you have a test the next day, and it’s 11 p.m., just go to bed,” Yadalla said. “It’s something a lot of people don’t talk about, and statements like ‘I stayed up until 2 a.m studying’ become normalized. I hear teachers talk about it all the time, and I wish that’s something I could hear more about from students.”
