Many individuals at Manual would consider themselves to be smart, athletic or hardworking. Some want to be defined by their accomplishments, while others want to be known for the people they hang around. Deepak Ramesh (12, MST) hopes that other individuals find him to be kind.
Ramesh has spent all four years of his high school career at Manual and with each year, he has grown to appreciate the nuance of different activities and to simply meet new people. Ramesh is a part of many activities at Manual, and he tries to be caring and intentional about his effect or role. He is a member of Future Problem Solvers, a member of the National Honor Society, the vice president of the Astronomy club, the treasurer of the Asian Student Community, an officer for the Philosophy club and the president of the Latin and Ballroom dance club.
“I joined these sorts of clubs because I really just wanted to just meet new people. I think just doing more things really opens your mind to trying new things, and you open your boundaries. You have to just be more inclusive of other people,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh has succeeded in garnering respect through this philosophy, as shown by the fact that he won Homecoming King during the 2025 Male/Manual rivalry game.
With the Latin and Ballroom dance club, Ramesh has also found recent success as the leader of the club. As the club for Manual is relatively new, picking up the mantle of president is a difficult task to rise to. Ramesh, while having difficulty as any new leader, managed to book a competition for the club in Columbus, Ohio. While the competition did not have many teams of their age group, Ramesh hopes to learn and pass down his knowledge about organizing and attending these events.
Outside of school, Ramesh consistently volunteers at the Hindu Temple of Kentucky. He enjoys this activity because he not only gets to help others but also socialize with friends and priests.
“I like helping the community, building a good relationship with the priests and everybody there,” Ramesh said.
Overall, Ramesh finds that meeting new people is the best way to experience high school. Ramesh believes that meeting new people not only makes you a confident speaker but also makes you more confident in who an individual is. Through Latin and Ballroom dance, Ramesh met many individuals who impressed him with their confidence when dancing and their grace when new members failed to dance the correct steps. He thinks that whenever you try something new, it should be fun or be made fun of by those around you.
“I kind of forgot some steps, but other people sort of encouraged me to keep going, because before I would have stopped, but the adult strangers told me to keep going. And I thought that was really sort of nice, that this ballroom community is just really amazing,” Ramesh said.
Regardless of all of his accomplishments, Ramesh hopes that the people who know him find him to be genuine and empathetic. Ramesh hopes to leave a legacy of positivity with everyone he impacts. He thinks that simply talking to someone new can change an entire day. In addition, Ramesh also finds that listening to friends in need is a skill that everyone should learn because everyone needs to be heard.
To the underclassmen, Ramesh hopes that they will continue to grow as humans, expanding their minds while eliminating biases. All in all, Ramesh hopes that when people open their minds, they can be kinder to everyone.
“I try to be a caring person who sort of talks to everybody and just builds connections,” Ramesh said.
