Welcome
Hello! My name is Venkatraman Varatharajan. I am currently a senior at the Massachusetts Academy for Math and Science (MAMS). Explore this website to learn more about me!
Hello! My name is Venkatraman Varatharajan. I am currently a senior at the Massachusetts Academy for Math and Science (MAMS). Explore this website to learn more about me!
I was born in India. When I was 7 months old, my family moved to United States. I live with my parents and my younger sister. We often go to the White Mountains in New Hampshire during the fall. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and playing tabletop games, especially chess! As you might be able to guess from the picture above, my favorite fruit is the apple.
My grandfather (not above) taught me how to play chess, and I have been playing in USCF tournaments since I was 8 years old. I participated in some online tournaments at the Boylston Chess Club through Zoom during the pandemic, since in-person tournaments were shut down. There were many regulations to follow to prevent any cheating, and playing in-person is a far better experience. I was very glad to get back into playing chess in-person and seeing some old friends again this summer. Playing chess is a fun way for me to take a break from work. It has taught me about the importance of resilience and consistency. One wrong move in a critical position can make your game fall apart. Playing chess has been an invaluable experience for me. Click here to see how the game above from my first tournament at the Boylston Chess Club ended!
I have enjoyed math throughout my life. I did math competitions during Elementary and Middle School, such as the AMC (American Mathematics Competition) and the Math Kangaroo.However, joining the math team at North Andover High School was a valuable experience. It was great way to connect with other mathletes and showed me the collaborative side of math. Above is the picture of our last competition of the 2022 school year at Canton High School. Since joining MAMS, I have regularly participated in Math Team. The MAMS math team makes learning very enjoyable and rewarding. Click here to look at Mass Academy's Math Team achievements in the 2022-2023 school year.
At North Andover High School, I was part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Newsletter. Issues contained information about the competitions of various clubs, potential scholarships, and opportunities related to STEM. Our goal was to make it easier for students to have access to STEM opportunities if they are interested. I was the writer for the Math Team and also occasionally wrote about computer science opportunites. I was unaware of many opportunities that I was missing until I joined the newsletter, so I hope others will have an easier time because of it.
When I was in North Andover, I tutored for RSM (Russian School of Math). In April 2022, I also joined schoolhouse.world, a volunteer organization connected to Khan Academy with a focus on peer tutoring. Tutoring has let me share a bit of what I have learned. I also have been tutored by other people on this platform. It is interesting to see both sides of the same platform. I believe that I have received just as much as I have given to schoolhouse.world. Now I have earned a Silver Badge for tutoring over 50 hrs.You can find my schoolhouse.world profile here.
After taking a photography class in grade 10, I started bringing my camera outside more. Here are some pictures of various animals that visited our garden and assorted flowers on our balcony. The flamingo and the deer were taken at the zoo. We set up a hummingbird feeder in our backyard and to our surprise, hummingbirds showed up!
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