With the final few weeks winding down for the senior class, it is the perfect time to recognize and honor the students who have worked diligently and gone above and beyond in their studies. It is the Hilltopper’s greatest pleasure to announce that the Valedictorian of the Morris Hills Class of 2024 is Darsh Shah.
Darsh Shah is a member of the Math and Science Magnet Program here at Hills and his ambition, combined with the support of the school’s community, has allowed him to succeed in his academics. Darsh is a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, earned 1st place in the Technology Student Association Webmaster event, is an AP Scholar with Distinction, and ranked 8th nationally in Math Kangaroo 2020. Becoming valedictorian requires jumping through numerous hurdles, but Darsh has always been able to overcome any challenge thrown at him. His favorite yet difficult class was AP Calculus BC. Darsh knew it was going to be a difficult class, but the difficulty, coupled with the collaboration, allowed him to really enjoy the challenge. Darsh notes that the open-endedness of the class “allowed for greater degrees of exploration than any other class” he had ever taken. Regardless of the class, Darsh put in consistent effort and dedication, allowing him to succeed. He would like to specially thank Mrs. Santucci, teacher of Math and Computer Science, and Mr. Hartsuiker, Teacher of Band, for their mentorship throughout all four years of high school. Darsh claims, “They have played a major role in helping me grow as a person and academically.”
Besides being rigorous in his academics, Darsh also has a large impact on the community around him both in and out of school. He has been a member of the Jazz Band and was a section leader for the Marching Band here at Hills. He is also a member in numerous different school clubs such as being co-president of Academic Decathlon (ACDEC), the Technology Student Association, and Programming Club. As a member of ACDEC, Darsh has won 5 medals (2 of them being gold) in the ACDEC Honors Division. He has participated in competitions through the Science Olympiad and mastered his chess and finance skills by being a part of the Chess & Games Club and Economics & Financial Literacy Club. Outside of school, Darsh co-founded and is currently the CEO of Classes 56, a self-started tutoring business and is a Code Ninjas Sensei, teaching aspiring students how to code. He is also a sales representative at Vector Marketing and a product development intern at Jetson. Darsh gives back to his local community by volunteering as part of SEWA International.
As for the future, Darsh plans to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study Computer Science and Economics. He looks forward to “exploring [his] academic interests further in depth as well as moving towards adulthood and independence.” He knows that he would not be here if it were not for his parents and little brother. He would like to thank them for always being there for him and for “shaping [him] into the person” he is today. Darsh plans on continuing his hobbies of playing the drums, working out, and solving puzzles in college and is looking forward to making new friends. He would also like to travel the world, hoping to visit Hawaii or the Caribbean with his friends.
Darsh’s friends and teachers are so proud of him and know that he will succeed on whatever career path he goes on. Darsh’s friends Aditya Vemuri, Rushil Yavasani, Malvika Chainani, Shaun Andreazza, and Rishit Arora are going to miss Darsh, but are also excited to see where he will go next. Aditya remembers fondly when Darsh locked him outside of his house in the middle of the night and also when he filmed his AP Physics C project about tennis with him. Rushil speaks on how Darsh is “very relatable and easy to talk to” and how he cares deeply about his friends, a reason why he is rooming with Darsh next year. Malvika remembers watching “Bread Barbershop”, a hilarious cartoon, when she was younger with Darsh and compliments Darsh on his reliability. Shaun notes how Darsh is always there to help him understand a new and challenging topic in school. Additionally, Rishit speaks about how Darsh, being one of his oldest and best friends, is the best to have deep conversations with while vibing to music on late night drives.
Furthermore, many of Darsh’s teachers recognize Darsh to be a humble man who has left an impact on the Morris Hills community. Mrs. Santucci, teacher of Math, notes how Darsh brought “intellectual savvy” to the school, and it will be difficult to say farewell to a student who works so hard. Mr. Gust, teacher of Psychology, is not surprised that a “student of his caliber would earn the title of Valedictorian” and Mr. Mein, teacher of History, knows that Darsh is an “outstanding student” who was always passionate about learning and “quite witty”. Lastly, Mr. Hartsuiker, teacher of Band, knows that Darsh, as a student musician, has “worked hard to improve in all areas of percussion performance”.
Darsh would like to leave one last message to his beloved Class of 2024: “Be nice, both to yourself and others. It will come back around. It’s all of our first time living so just be understanding”. Congratulations to Darsh Shah from the Hilltopper Staff and Morris Hills community! We can not wait to see what you and the rest of the Class of 2024 will accomplish.