President of North Penn’s class of 2024, President of Mock Trial, Vice President of Model UN, and a student on the board of Badminton Club…these are just some of the titles held by junior Kriya Shah. 

Kriya’s favorite memory is visiting Kashmir in India. She loves to spend her time with her family, and visiting a beautiful place such as this mountain helped her form stronger bonds with family members.

“Over the summer I went to Kashmir, which is this really pretty mountain range in India. It was the first time I had been back to India after 5 years. I got to see all of my younger cousins and we bonded so much. Being in this beautiful place with my family… that’s probably my favorite memory,” explained Junior Kriya Shah. 

While many high school students consider junior year to be difficult, Shah expresses her love and passion for the courses she is enrolled in.

“I genuinely love all of them. I have no complaints about any of my classes or my teachers this year. All of them are wonderful,” Shah said. 

Among the many challenging courses Shah has chosen to take, AP Seminar and AP Research stand out as they helped prepare her for college.

“I think the Capstone Program, the AP Seminar, which I took last year as a sophomore and AP Research, which I am taking right now, are so unique. You can explore anything you want. It teaches you so many important skills you need for college like writing an essay, research, looking at sources, evaluating them and it’s a fun environment.Those classes really stood out to me,” Shah added. 

Shah’s many interests outside of school range from going to the gym to being an avid reader.

“Outside of school I am a really big reader even outside of AP Lang. I love reading.The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it in 7th grade and we just finished it too in Lang and I love how the relationships in the book are so complex and the symbols. It’s just so beautiful. I also really love playing badminton. It’s something I started over the pandemic with my parents and I do it at the school too,” Shah explained. 

Kriya not only challenges herself inside the classroom but also all the activities she is involved with. She holds numerous leadership positions in a variety of clubs.

“I am the president of the Junior class, which is a very big commitment but I love working with the team there. I am also president of the Mock Trial team and the vice president for the Model UN team. We don’t have a debate team at our school and that’s the closest you can get to it. It helps you explore all these global issues and being in a leadership position I get to design the curriculum and teach this new batch of students who are interested in the club on how to be a good debater,how to public speak, and how to research. Nicole taught me so much because she is such a good leader. She organizes everything so well and I hope to carry on her legacy when she graduates this year. I am on the board of the badminton club and I am in NHS as well,” Shah said. 

She enjoys spending her free time with her younger brother by relaxing and playing games.

“I have a younger brother who is in 6th grade and I love him so much. We are best friends and we get along really well. I do spend time with him. I like playing board games with him or watching T.V.,” Shah added. 

Shah has visited many unique places over the summer as she loves to travel. 

“Over the summer I love traveling. I am a really big traveler. I went to India for 3 weeks then I went to Texas for a week. My favorite place is a tie between Switzerland and Cancún. Switzerland is so pretty.I went to Switzerland when I was 8. Cancún, I went in January of this year for a wedding and it was a great break from school. I also hang out with my friends. I think that’s also really important to do,” Shah remarked. 

Kriya is open minded when it comes to music and enjoys a wide variety of genres. 

“I love Bollywood music. I listen to pretty much anything. My favorite artist is Taylor Swift. I love her so much. I listen to rap and a little bit of country but it all falls under the genre category of pop,” Shah explained. 

Shah’s post-high school plans include attending college and law school for undergrad.

“I want to go to college and major in Political Science and Economics. After that I want to go to law school because I want to be a lawyer,” Shah said. 

The school year is flying by, and Shah is thinking about how much time she has left at North Penn. She is grateful for the opportunities provided and looks forward to the future.

“I have been in North Penn since Kindergarten and I really love the school. I just turned 17 and it’s weird because I have 1 year left. It made me think a lot about the past couple of years and all the friendships I made. I am really excited for the future” Shah added.