2009 Graduates of KCA

Manasa Tavarageri graduated from Cerritos High this year and will be attending CSULB (Cal State Long Beach). She is planning to do a double major in Aerospace Engineering and Computer Engineering.

Vinay Somashekar graduated from Fountain Valley High School this year and will be attending UCI. He will be majoring in Business Economics. He has been a part of KCA for a major part of his life and is an active volunteer in the KCA Youth Committee.

Sangeetha Murthy graduated from Diamond Ranch High School and will be attending UC Riverside. She has been attending and participating in all KCA related activities for many years.

Tara Sulur, the proud daughter of Sreeram and Girija Sulur, graduated in 2009 from North Hollywood Highly Gifted Magnet. She has actively participated in all KCA activities from a very young age. In 2005, she was awarded the Karnataka Cultural Awareness Award for her winning essay and extensive involvement in cultural activities. The following year her peers elected her as KCA-YC President mainly for her extensive cultural involvement. Throughout high school, Tara has been an A-student, and involved in many school activities. She is attending UC Berkeley this fall.

Arjun G. Prakash graduated from Glen A. Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights, California. At Wilson he was an International Baccalaureate candidate, co-captain of the Mock Trial Team, the technology chair for the school’s Kiwin’s club, and treasurer as well as co-head designer for the school’s Technology club. Arjun plays Carnatic Music on the Electronic Keyboard and has given numerous performances. He has been an avid member of KCA all his life. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and taking photographs. This fall he is attending Chapman University in Orange, California hoping to pursue his passion for Cinematic Arts and Digital Animation.

Rahul Hari, son of Hanumantha and Bina Hari graduated from Diamond Bar High School with an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma in 2009. Rahul was selected as a National Merit Finalist by the National Merit Scholarship Foundation and was awarded a full scholarship from NMSF to several schools. Rahul will be attending UC Irvine and plans to major in Neurobiology. While in school, Rahul participated in Mock Trial all four years and was Captain of the Team, senior year. He was selected to represent his school at the National Moot Court Competitions at DC three years running and won Semi-Finalist. He was in Chamber Singers and Advanced Drama and played key roles in school theater productions and won Best Acting Awards. As a founding member, Rahul was actively involved in Game Club, a club solely dedicated to raising funds for children who are ill through conducting video gaming tournaments. His volunteer hours to the local community total over 600 hours. He has been involved with KCA for several years. He loves Magic and enjoys Bharatnatyam, tabla, playing the Wii and hanging out with friends. In his own words, his aspirations,"Goals for the future include becoming an attorney to the likes of, well, Jack McCoy"

Chaitra Betegeri graduated from Chino Hills High School in June 2009 as Salutatorian. She will be joining her older brother Surag at UC Berkeley in the fall. She was an active member of the school debate team, has won various awards, and has been to Nationals. Chaitra has participated in KCA dramas and performances for many years. She enjoys hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and having fun. Chaitra plans to major in Business at UC Berkeley.

Apoorva Ananth graduated from Huntington Beach High School as an honors student in June 2009. He is attending UCLA in fall 2009 and was an active member and president of the National Honors Society, Model United Nations, Hoag Hospital Junior Auxiliary Volunteers, and the California Scholarship Federation throughout his high school career. He has also been taking vocal lessons in Carnatic music from Shubha Narayan for six years (as well as from her son Sandeep Narayan) and ha salso been learning mridangam from Nirmal Narayan for the past year and half. In addition, Apoorva has learned Western Classical piano for the past 12 years. He enjoys playing basketball, football, and baseball for fun, too. Apoorva plans to major in Bio Engineering at UCLA.

Datta Melukote, the son of Sudarshana and Anuradha Melukote, is currently a freshman at University of California, Irvine. He is majoring in biology and planning to pursue a medical career. During his four years in University high school, he has been the treasurer of the French club, which has donated more than $1,300 to Doctors without Borders foundation. He was also the vice president of the Indian Student Association. Datta was a mentor in Impact program that helped the transition of freshman into the high school environment. His hobbies include playing and watching basketball and volunteering in soup kitchen, Shade Tree program and KCA activities.