Nisha Naveen is a Wilcox senior with endless passion, curiosity, and commitment. Whether at Wilcox or in Santa Clara as a whole, she finds ways to pursue what she loves while also serving her community.
Nisha has lived in the Bay Area her entire life, in fact, she’s never even moved houses. She lives with her parents, older sister, and her dog Chestnut. In her freetime, she enjoys teaching Chestnut new tricks, trying out different coffee spots, reading, and going to the beach.
Since she was four years old, Nisha has practiced the Indian classical dance form Bharatanatyam. Dancing started out as a way to compete with her older sister; Nisha mentions that, “I wanted to do everything that she did.” But as she developed her skills, her appreciation for dance quickly grew. “I realized I really liked the spotlight and performing under pressure,” Nisha explains how it was this feeling that led her to take dance more seriously.
When she was twelve, Nisha did her Arangetram, a full-length solo performance recognized as a student’s graduation from training and debut as a soloist. Since then, she has been involved in countless competitions and thematic productions of fusion dances. After traveling to places like India, Florida, and Virginia for showcases, she expresses her appreciation for how “Dance has taken me to many places, and I’ve gotten to share it with a lot of different people.”
Additionally, her background in Indian classical dance led to her involvement in Wilcox’s Manzil team, where she performs Bollywood dances in competitions across the Bay Area. Nisha also loves watching the dance performances at the Multicultural rally, as she explains: “I have a big appreciation for my Indian culture, and I love watching other students express their love for their own culture as well.”
Nisha’s favorite spirit event at Wilcox, however, is definitely Fantastics. She notes that “I’m pretty competitive,” and likes participating in the games, cheering on her class, and seeing everyone in her grade come together repping their class color. “Fantastics night is the most I’ve ever seen my grade come together for something we all want, and winning this year was super fun,” she explains.
When she’s not at school or the dance studio, you will likely find Nisha taking care of animals. On weekends, she enjoys volunteering at Animal Assisted Happiness (AAH) as the Animal Community Liaison and Youth Ambassador. Nisha spends her time at AAH training new volunteers, helping with feedings and medications, and caring for animals such as pigs, doves, and even a tortoise.
Amidst her experiences volunteering, Nisha found herself frequently having conversations with professionals in the veterinary field. She describes how she “just started talking to them, and I would record our conversations. During these interviews, I realized just how much they had to say.” Inspired by these chats, Nisha created a Spotify account and began her very own podcast: Furreal. She continued reaching out to shelters, vets, and researchers to converse about all things animal related. As her viewers grew, she added storylines to each episode, and even created an Instagram to publicize Furreal. Later, Nisha submitted an episode to the New York Times that was chosen as a finalist! She notes that, “I feel like the only reason my podcast got this far was because I genuinely enjoyed what I was doing, and I was able to meet so many cool people through it.” At the end of an interview, she would invite her guest to share details about upcoming plans, such as an adoption event at a shelter. Then, her listeners would go to the event and show their support. Nisha describes how rewarding the experience was, “Furreal became not just something to listen to, but something that connected people in this area and motivated them to do something.”
Nisha brings her passion for animals to Wilcox by serving as the president of the Wilcox Animal Group (WAG). Just like with her podcast, Nisha’s enthusiasm for the club stems from her desire to bring together students who love animals and share that love with the Wilcox community.
After Nisha graduates from Wilcox this June, she is excited to further her interest in animals by pursuing a career as a veterinarian. She will be attending university to study animal science, and plans to specialize in internal medicine, where she will be able to work with the same patients for long periods of time. She also wants to continue dancing in college, and expresses her desire to join an Indian classical dance team at the school she chooses to attend.
“I really admire her work ethic,” Jiean Liao, a Wilcox senior who is friends with Nisha, comments. “She sets high goals for herself and always pushes herself to achieve them.” No matter where she goes in the future, Nisha’s fervent dedication to what she loves will never fail to inspire those around her.
