“Leadership and Learning are indispensable to each other.”

- John F. Kennedy

Hello, My name is Sayuj. I love taking on new challenges, helping others, leading by example, and spending time with my Family. I hope that through this portfolio, you can get to know me.

Academic Pursuits

Our Middle School Academic Curriculum consists of Science, Math, Spanish, and ELA/Humanities. I love learning these subjects and have had some very unique experiences with them that stretch well beyond the classroom. I’m now going to highlight some of my academic work.

Humanities and Writing:

I thoroughly enjoy HPMS’s Humanities curriculum, particularly our studies of American Civics. I enjoy bringing my passion for civics, history, and current affairs to my humanities work and love sharing it in the classroom. Here are a couple of writing pieces that I’m most proud of.

America’s Most Far-Reaching Amendment Essay

I’m most proud of my essay on the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I’ve been fascinated by the historical significance and far-reaching impact of this amendment and tried to capture this in my essay. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it.

Supreme Court Dossier

I’ve also included my write-up about the Supreme Court Justices. I loved learning about the justices and I think that the depth, data, and anecdotes in my writing made it very engaging.

Click on the image above to read the write-up

Other Academic Pursuits

I enjoy Spanish class. I’ve made presentations about Spanish cultures, traditions, and other topics of interest. Here are a couple of my favorite Spanish projects, which capture my interest in sports, history, and culture.

Leadership in the Community

Support for Ukraine Project

The developments in Ukraine earlier this year were very troubling, and I strongly felt that we as a community must help. I led HPMS to rally around the cause of providing education for Ukrainian Refugees. To achieve this, I built awareness in the school community and organized a fundraiser involving a bake sale and a community event.

I was interviewed by a reporter from the Jersey Journal about our work, which helped spread the message and inspire others to take action as well. I feel that I showed a lot of leadership, drive, and empathy during this project.

**Please click on the image above to** **read the full article**.

Civics and Politics

I love analyzing civics, politics, and elections. I’ve really immersed myself in these topics by combining what I learned in Civics Class with my independent research, which has helped me connect civics with other interests. For example, I loved traveling with my family to the Reconstruction Museum set up by the National Park Service in Beaufort, South Carolina, where I drew connections between civics and history.

Another example is how I’ve taken an interest in congressional redistricting, and love making fair congressional maps of states that have been previously gerrymandered, using the Daves Redistricting Website. I also closely follow and analyze elections. I also brought this interest to my contributions to the Middle School Newspaper, where I published my own detailed analysis of county-by-county election results in the state of New Jersey in 2021. As an example, I’ve included a fair map of Georgia that I’ve made using Daves Redistricting, and my Newspaper Article on the New Jersey Election Results from 2021. To see more newspaper articles, scroll down to click the link below.

Click on the map

to read my full article on the Governor’s election in New Jersey

Please also find a few more pieces I have written below:
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

The 28th Amendment: Electoral College Reform

South Carolina’s Black History

Montessori Model UN

My passion for Civics and Current Affairs doesn’t stop with America. I’m also interested in world issues and affairs. I’ve taken part in Montessori Model U.N. for a couple of years. I’ve enjoyed debating with people from all over the world and enjoyed writing my two position papers, first representing the Republic of Estonia, and then the Republic of Kenya. My papers are linked below.

First Position Paper (Estonia FAO)

Second Position Paper (Kenya ECOFIN)

Entrepreneurship

I’ve always been fascinated by entrepreneurship. In 5th grade, I started a school business with three friends called Cliffhangers. This experience really drew me into entrepreneurship as I really enjoyed the planning involved, generating profits, and having “shareholders”.

I’ve built off the Cliffhangers experience by playing a leading role in the Student Newspaper Club, where I was instrumental in deciding details about pricing, content, and distribution.

Currently, I lead the Middle School Entrepreneurship Club. We’re currently coming up with a business plan and have developed sample 3D Printed items. We’re very excited to open our doors to the school community in January.

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Music

I love music, and how musical instruments combine to form beautiful melodies. I’ve played the piano during community events, and recitals. Here I’ve included videos of me playing Robert Schumann’s Mignon during the 8th Grade Graduation and the Beatles’ song ‘Hey Jude’ at a recital.

Here I am playing “Hey Jude” by my favorite band: The Beatles.

Chess

Chess is a special sport and it’s one that I really enjoy. I love the strategy and perseverance involved, and I feel that playing chess has helped me employ these in my everyday life. I enjoy the competitiveness that chess tournaments bring. Here are some photos of my memorable chess moments.

Tennis

I love playing and following the sport of tennis. I’m an avid fan of Rafael Nadal and really value him for his grace and fighting spirit. Over the years I traveled to major tennis events and historical locations like the U.S. Open and Hall of Fame, and look forward to pursuing tennis recreationally in the future.

Here is a link to my article on Rafael Nadal.

Family & Friends

My family has been really supportive of me, whether that’s in my studies, my extracurricular activities, or my passions. I love talking with my dad about politics and economics, hanging out with my mom after school, and having little jokes with my sister. Without my parents and sister, I wouldn’t be where I am today. My grandparents are also really important to me. I’ve learned many lessons from them that I try taking with me wherever I go.

As a family, we love to travel and play board games. Many of our most recent outings have been to National Parks all over the country. We really enjoy these trips because they allow us to bond with nature and switch off from the busy world around us.