“One thing about karate is that a lot of people from school go to karate. I first started karate when I was-nine years-old and I was doing it because all my friends were doing it, so I wanted to hang out with them.”

Senior Annika Thakur originally joined karate to hang out with her friends, but as she continued to train, eventually reaching the red belt rank, the sport became more than a rendezvous to her. 

“Karate became more than a hangout spot to me when I realized I was going on days my friends wouldn’t be there, just because I wanted to,” Thakur said. “I like that karate isn’t just about bragging or showing off but about achievement and growth. I think karate is always applicable no matter if it’s the basic punch you learn in white belt or the complicated sequence you learn in black belt.”

Despite the immense progress she has made, she experiences setbacks in her journey to become a black belt but remains dedicated to the sport.

“I’m a first degree red belt, which is one below black belt.” Thakur said. “I recently took my black belt test, and I failed, so I’m going to test again in two months, but that’s been my journey, and it’s been something really fun.”

During maneuver and strike practices, she has also learned how to be authentic with herself.

“Karate’s made me more confident and powerful,” Thakur said. “It’s about discipline and growth, both physical and mental. Karate taught me to never underestimate myself and to put myself first. It also taught me that I need to believe in myself before others will believe in me and to trust my instincts. Everything you do should be your best attempt, but it’s okay if some days your best attempt is better or worse than other days.”

After lessons, she loves to relax by watching a show, specifically a new found favorite.

“I recently watched Stranger Things,” Thakur said. “It’s probably my favorite TV show. People really hated the fifth season, but I thought it was fine. I’m not a movie critic but I thought it was a good ending.”

Just like Dustin Henderson from the Stranger Thing series, Thakur considers herself an emotionally intelligent individual.

“I think that my best quality is how I am an understanding person,” Thakur said. “When I see other people, I try to put myself in their shoes when I think about them. It’s really important to be aware of people around you. When you’re talking to someone, you don’t exclude someone else.”

If Thakur could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, she’d love to eat with Henry Thoreau, with a side of rice, vegetable curry and life questions.

“I would really want to meet him and have a conversation with him about living in the woods and about his personality,” Thakur said. “I think he is a really interesting guy and I learned about him for six months straight.”

Besides her material arts and TV shows, Thakur enjoys participating in the speech and debate program at Oak Park High School.

“I have been doing speech since sophomore year and I mostly do spontaneous speaking, so I have two minutes to prepare and then I have to give a speech for five minutes. Sometimes I have slip ups when I speak. There are a lot of opportunities to mess up around everyone, but we all support each other.”Though she greatly values her speech family, her older sister is the biggest role model in her life.

“She went to OPHS so whenever I had a question about school, I talked to her and not even about school but my life,” Thakur said. “It’s really helpful to have somebody who has lived the same life as you, but before you did, to talk about life with. I watched her graduate high school and college, and now that I’m approaching high school graduation and even college, it is an emotional moment to see her grow and then realize I’m in her place now. I used to look up to her when she was where I am now.”

As Thakur joins her sister in college, she aims to study biotechnology.

“I’m looking into biomedical engineering and computational biology,” Thakur said. “It is a fulfilling field. Biomedical engineering is a way for me to help people who are sick, have illnesses or even genetic conditions that can not be helped firsthand.

As senior year comes to a close, she offers a piece of advice to the burned out OPHS students.

“Take it easy. One thing about me is especially freshman and sophomore year, I was really stressed. I feel if I was not stressed, I would have performed just as good, if not better. Just try your best.”