#b#To Carnegie Hall#/b#
Taksh Gupta, a five-year-old from West Windsor, won the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey and will be playing at the winner’s recital at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, May 25, at 7:30 p.m.
Taksh, who competed in the solo division for 4 to 6 year olds, will perform Minuet in G Major BWV Anh. 114 by Petzold. A kindergarten student at Dutch Neck School, he previously attended Children’s House of Windsors, a Montessori school in West Windsor.
His parents, Nitin Gupta and Srishti Gupta, were born, raised, and educated in India. They moved to the United States in 2002 and to the West Windsor area two years ago. Nitin works in the financial services technology industry. Srishti leads the digital group at a market research firm. Taksh’s younger brother, Parth, is 3 years old. “We are planning to introduce Parth to the piano later this year,” says their father.
“Neither of us plays music, which makes Taksh’s progress even more remarkable,” says Nitin. “We believe that Taksh has his musical genes from his grandmother, who used to sing and play. (She died before Taksh was born). Taksh is also very attached to his maternal side grandparents who have shown him the importance of hard work and perseverance.”
Taksh was born in Reston, Virginia. He started playing about 15 months ago on a keyboard gifted by his uncle, so didn’t have much of a background in music. He has been studying piano with Jessica Rey-de-Castro for a year. “Taksh enjoys a wide variety of music though his favorite pieces are fast and energetic,” says Nitin. “His teacher insisted that we buy a piano because that is where he will learn to play with the right technique and dynamics.”
Other than piano, Taksh likes soccer, tennis, and swimming. “His favorite sport to watch is football — and he is a big Giants fan,” says Nitin. “He dreams to someday become a football player and win the superbowl for Giants.”
Taksh spends 60 to 90 minutes every day practicing the piano with his mother. “Some days, while everybody is still sleeping, Taksh will wake up and go to the piano and start playing his favorite songs,” says Nitin. “We had been a little skeptical about buying a piano but now we know we made the right decision.”
#b#The Graduate#/b#
Eli Wang of West Windsor will be celebrating two graduations in the next few months. At 17, he is graduating from High School South in June and will receive an associate’s degree in chemistry from Mercer County Community College in August. He plans to transfer to Rutgers University in the fall to study biomedical engineering.
He began at Mercer when he was a high school sophomore. “He was seeking an environment outside of high school to supplement his academics and decided to test the waters at Mercer with an English composition class,” says his mother, Allison Ho.
From there, Wang took many other courses, especially in math and science. His studies have included two semesters of calculus and two of organic chemistry.
He was invited to join the Honors Science Research Program, coordinated through MCCC science faculty members. To qualify, students must have at least a 3.0 GPA in their science classes, be recommended by an MCCC professor, and devote a minimum of six hours per week at the research institution. The intensive investigative opportunities include projects with professors at Mercer and other colleges, as well as research companies.
On May 9 Wang and two other MCCC students, biology/chemistry major Rebekah Dietrich of Trenton and biology/chemistry major Yifan Zhao of Lawrenceville, presented the findings of research projects they completed this spring.
Wang presented the results of “Catalytic Fluorination of Allylic C-H Bonds,” which he completed under the guidance of Abby Doyle and Marie-Gabrielle Braun at Princeton University. For Wang, the research presentation was the culmination of a college career.
“We had a large crowd of students, faculty, and industry professionals who attended the presentation and asked insightful questions,” says Helen Tanzini, a professor of chemistry at MCCC, in a statement. “These three students have worked at a high level this semester, carrying out the kinds of tasks that one finds in an advanced academic setting.”
#b#Off to China#/b#
Sanchaya Satish, a sophomore at High School North and a resident of West Windsor, is headed to China for the summer. She received a merit-based scholarship from the National Security Language Initiative for Youth, a program funded by the Department of State for high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. NSLI-Y offers overseas study opportunities in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish.
Satish will study Chinese, a language she has not previously studied. The scholarship covers all program costs including domestic and international travel; tuition and related academic preparation; language testing; educational and cultural activities focused on language learning; orientations; meals; and accommodations, usually with a host family.
She has been a regular participant — and has medaled — in the school’s teams for Science Olympiad, national debates, JSA, and most recently in the National History Day competition. As a part of her community service initiatives, she was an intern at Representative Rush Holt’s office in 2012. The selection is based on several criteria of academic achievement, teacher recommendations, and an assessment of the utility of overseas experience and the applicant’s maturity.
The program seeks to increase Americans’ capacity to engage with native speakers of critical languages by providing formal instruction and informal language practice in an immersion environment. Educational and cultural activities are designed to promote language learning and build mutual understanding and long-lasting relationships.
The goals of the program include sparking a life-long interest in foreign languages and cultures, while developing a corps of young Americans with the skills necessary to advance international dialogue in the private, academic, or government sectors; and build upon the foundations developed through person-to-person relationships while abroad. Through her participation in the program, Satish will serve as a citizen diplomat while developing the skills necessary to be a leader in the global community.
Visit www.exchanges.state.gov or www.nsliforyouth.org for information.
