When I was 5, I wanted to be a princess. At 11, I wanted to be an interior designer. At 15, I had no idea what I wanted to be. The question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up,’ was always scary to me. There were so many options, and my answers kept changing with my interests. After watching Beauty and the Beast and Barbie Princess Charm School, I thought I wanted to be a princess.After redecorating my room and watching
HGTV, I thought I’d be the next interior designer on Fixer Upper. After years of changing my mind, I entered high school confused.

At 16, I then realized I wanted to be an engineer. I made this realization during AP Physics, and the reason was Dr. Roychowdhury.

I remember walking into my AP Physics I & II class for the first time. We got to pick our seats, and I sat with 1 of the 5 girls in my class. We were handed a packet of math that we would need to learn before moving into the physics part. I flipped through the pages, and after a summer of not thinking about school, I was lost.

As the period went on and Dr. R went through the packet, I started to understand. That became a trend. Dr. R had the talent of turning complicated mathematical and conceptual problems into easy-to-understand answers. The understanding came with a side effect: I found myself enjoying solving problems (for the most part). There is something so rewarding about figuring out a difficult question and finally getting the right answer.

The difficult question of what you want to be when you grow up was also finally answered. I wanted to be an engineer. Engineer has always been a daunting title to me: the stereotypes that come along with it, the lab reports, the calc lectures, the future all-nighters. Despite my stresses, Dr. R showed me that learning isn’t perfect but a process.

Dr. R is someone I can look up to. In such a male-dominated field, she is the representation my 16-year-old self needed. Both my physics classes were made up of mostly guys. There were only five girls in my Physics I & II class, and four girls in my Physics C class. Despite the classroom gender make-up, Dr. R was highly respected and someone I could see myself in. She was always someone I could go to for anything, from homework help to college advice to a cup of tea.

Dr. Roychowdhury is so much more than just a teacher. She has a deep love for learning and wants the best for her students. She has a doctorate and has overcome so much. She is a mother and a wife and a friend, and an inspiration to so many students.

I can’t say what engineering in college will be like, but I’m forever grateful for the inspiration Dr. Roychowdhury gave me. Like most kids my age, I came into high school not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. My ideas and interests were always changing until I found the thing that clicked (engineering).

High school is the time to explore topics that interest you and take different classes. VHHS offers such a wide variety of things, from woodshop to accounting to computer science to pastry arts. You can learn what you like or really don’t, but no matter what, it’ll move you one step forward on your path. Get to know teachers and their stories, and learn as much as you can during your time at VHHS. You never know what class will be the one that answers “what do you want to be when you grow up?”