As Saura Rathore enters a new stage of her life, she leaves behind the legacy of serving Malden High’s Class of 2023.
Rathore was elected class president her junior year after participating in and planning events within the class Senate. She felt she was both ready and passionate to take the next step and gain an official role where she could host an enjoyable prom through “important fundraising events” and “good planning.”
Rathore reflected on her time as president, stating that one of the aspects she believes she grew at most was becoming more social to better represent her class. Rathore explained that she made a substantial effort to “talk to people that usually would not have a say in how things work.” As a result of asking “simple logistical questions,” she was able to employ creative fundraising strategies, as well as helping to work out event ideas like the class’ first high school dance, which Rathore pinpointed as one of the events she is most proud of given its success.
Describing what it was like to work with her fellow student council members, Rathore stated that “it was very fun” because everyone is “equally passionate to really make a difference when it comes to our class activities,” making it overall, “a very collaborative environment.” Something she particularly enjoyed and was really “grateful for” was the comfort of her peers in the class council to voice their desires or concerns. “People come up and talk to me about certain things that they wanted,” Rathore explained.
She continued, “I feel like after I became president, I had the credibility and the trust from the people to definitely give me their suggestions and everything, which I really appreciate. I liked the fact that they were able to trust me and tell me the suggestions, problems, commentary, whatever they had related to that.”
Aside from her experience in council, Rathore is also part of Massachusetts YMCA Youth and Government, a state program she partook in for all four years of high school and ended up representing as the state’s youth governor. In addition, Rathore is president of the Speech and Debate Team, and a member of the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) and National Honor Society (NHS).
Kate Haskell, advisor of SNHS, praised Rathore, “She was a great student. She could really think outside the box. She would approach problems from places that other students were not approaching them from; she was a really good thinker. I can’t wait to see what she does.”
Upon graduating Malden High, Rathore says she will miss the school’s diversity the most. “I think the biggest thing about Malden High School is the diversity, but not just cultural and background diversity, but also diversity in people’s perspectives, opinions and the things that they have to offer. And I feel like it’s really the way that it’s in the real world.”
Rathore continued, “Working in the class council, working in different extracurriculars, meeting all these different people, getting to know their perceptions about different things—I think that was something that really helped me grow as a person.” As she moves onto college, she hopes that there will be as much diversity and enriching experiences.
“Out in the real world when we’re not talking about college, it’s all different kinds of people. So I just hope that in college… I’m not going to be limited to the same kind of people with the same perceptions if I really want to expand my learning domain.”
Rathore will be attending UMass Boston in the fall. Though it is the school she committed to, she shared that she was looking into a transfer option for her sophomore year. Rathore looks to enter the STEM field, focusing on engineering and physics. She laughed that since it requires a PhD degree before reaching the workforce, she will be in college for “at least the next 10 years.”
Although it seems like “a lot,” Rathore explained that her finance situation is sorted out, and she loves the subject she’s picking. “I really see myself working in this field, but also just simply studying this for the next 10 years. I can see myself enjoying it rather than dreading it and then possibly working for NASA or something.”
Despite wanting to be a doctor for over ten years, during her sophomore year—and the Covid-19 pandemic—she was exposed to space engineering, artificial intelligence, and physics. “And when I was exposed to these subjects, I found myself just wanting to do that [and] having a lot of fun doing that versus when I was doing other subjects. So I was like yeah, I clearly have an interest in this. So I might as well want to do something about it.”
Brian Morrison, her AP Physics teacher who taught the subjects she is interested in, remarked that Rathore is “a really determined, hard-working student” who “perseveres through everything that’s coming her way, whether it’s been some of the college stuff that’s going on or the soccer team—she’s always just given her best at everything.”
Speech and Debate coach and history teacher Kurtis Scheer, who Rathore said was a great mentor to her during the college admissions process, echoed this and gave a final piece of advice: “No matter what you do, or where you go beyond MHS, wherever it takes you on… it’s going to be lucky to have you because not always, especially nowadays, it’s hard to find good people who are driven, willing to work and go through some of the tough things rather than just kind of finding the easiest way.”
Morrison reiterated this, saying Rathore was “probably one of the most driven students” he has taught in a while, as she was “capable of accessing any of the information I ever gave her” and “always was quick to pick up on the details and then be able to implement them right afterwards.”
James Valente, media teacher, who Rathore also claimed was a great mentor to her, shared: “Don’t take no for an answer. You have the ability to do anything you want. You have the tenacity to be who you want to be. You’ve shown it here. Why not put that energy and put that foot forward regardless of where you are and what you’re doing? Go and reach for the status. And that’s it. That’s what you’ve been doing.”
Rathore noted that the Class of ‘23 lacked what was typical of a “very ideal high school experience” given that two years were cut off. But, she continued, “I feel like despite that we really pulled through and we have really been united as a class together. I think we have a comfortable environment with our class. I don’t think there’s that much toxicity and negativity that you would expect to have in high school, which I’m really proud of our class for. And even though we were so late in starting, like class counseling, starting events—when we did start events, people were showing up, they were showing their support, which is something that I really appreciate.”
Even though her freshman year was spent remotely and she “didn’t have a sophomore year… in the time that I have been at the school, I think meeting different people, whether that’d be like my grade or like any grades here at Malden High, has been so much fun for me. I feel like that’s one of the things that I really look forward to when I come to school, meeting the teachers, meeting the students and talking to them about different things. That’s something that I’ve had so much fun with. And that’s something I’m going to miss a lot too.”
As she moves onto the next chapter of her life, Rathore looks to pursue her dreams and continue working hard. “Nothing really is impossible if you really have a will; if there’s a will there’s a way, so that’s the mindset I really am trying to have,” she concluded.
