Ananya Nukala ‘25 loves robotics.
Her passion for robotics started when she was in ninth grade, despite joining the team with little prior experience. However, the Gatorbotics community has cultivated Nukala’s love for engineering.
“Being on this team, especially with a bunch of older girls to look up to, has really sparked a passion for it,” Nukala said. In her senior year, as Gatorbotics’ Mechanical Lead, Nukala sought to give younger students this same sense of mentorship: “I love working with all the students in younger grades and supporting them.”
She also appreciates the creative aspects of robotics: “I love open-ended problem solving. I love that robotics is not like a normal class but [rather] an answer that you’re trying to achieve.”
Gatorbotics has undoubtedly shaped Nukala’s plans for the future. In college, she plans to major in mechanical engineering.
But Nukala also loves art.
Ceramics allows Nukala to connect her passion for robotics with her artsy side: “I really enjoy it as a creative outlet, because I enjoy making things in three dimensions, like robotics, and then ceramics as well.”
Although making time for oneself can be hard as a high school student, Nukala considers it her “me time.” “I do [ceramics] during all my free periods,” she said. “It’s really something that I do that’s for myself. I find it very meditative.”
Nukala also loves to run.
She recalled starting cross country in her sophomore year. Even though she previously hated running, she grew to love it through connecting with her teammates and coaches.
“I’ve just grown so much as a person,” Nukala said. “It’s become one of my happy places at Casti.” Ultimately, she said that showing up to practice every day and running with her teammates beside her has made her a more “gritty and strong-willed person.”
But above all, Nukala loves trying new things.
At Castilleja, Nukala has come to embrace her adventurous spirit. “For my whole life, I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I still kind of don’t. I’ve never really been able to answer [that] question,” she said. “Even though I’m not sure exactly what I want to be, I’ve gotten to know myself a lot better. I’ve gotten to know how I work, the types of things that I’m interested in [and] how to juggle multiple things at once.”
Trying to fit all her interests into a 24-hour day initially proved to be challenging: “I think a big struggle at Casti has been having enough time to do everything that I want to do and resisting the urge to silo myself and choose only one thing to pursue.”
However, this experience has allowed Nukala to improve her time management skills. “It’s been a lot of learning [and] a lot of time management— learning to still sleep when I’m super busy,” she said. Nukala mentioned that through these challenges, she has gained the tools to be able to continue doing the things she loves while also pursuing other interests.
Since middle school, she has grown to be more assured in herself and her own values. “I have now a set of voices that, [although] I’m sure it’ll evolve or change in the future, I currently guide myself by,” Nukala said. These values include honesty, staying true to herself, empathy, open-mindedness and always being there for friends and family.
If she could tell her middle school self one thing, it would be to worry less and that “everything is not always that deep.” Similarly, she has learned to find happiness in small moments by writing down one thing she is grateful for every day. “[It’s] good to find happy things in your everyday life. If you’re always waiting for yourself to be perfectly happy, it’s never going to come,” she said. “You have to find it every day.”
“More than depth, I think [my time at Casti has] really been about breadth,” Nukala said. She loved how the school environment allowed her to feel comfortable with trying new things: “I did three different sports in sixth grade [that] I’d never done before. I’ve done AWAH, the musical and I feel like it’s so cool how you can be a part of so much here.”
This mindset has remained a constant throughout Nukala’s time at Castilleja and she will continue to carry it into the future. “[In the future], I’m hoping to explore things I don’t even know that I’ll like yet.” She expressed her interest in joining the MRacing team, a Formula One team at the University of Michigan, where she will be heading for college.
However, before then, Nukala plans to take a gap year, not only to delve deeper into her current passions but also to try other interests. “I want to go explore something, like ceramics, dance or another creative interest that I have and that I may not be able to focus on as much in college,” she said. “And maybe do it in a cool place, meet cool people and just grow and get to know myself more.”
Although Nukala has grown tremendously throughout her time at Casti, her passion, dedication and willingness to try new things have and will always remain constant. These traits will take her far, and we wish her the best of luck as she continues on to the next chapter of her life.
