“The grind never stops” is one of the many lessons this Doral Academy senior has passed on to the younger members of DA’s Mathematics Honor Society. Anirudh Rahul is a dedicated student that never ceases to impress and excel academically. In 6th grade, Rahul started competing in math and later began competing in computer science.

“I think the thing I am going to miss the most is all the people I’ve met at Doral. Being able to see familiar faces that have been here since I was still in the 6th grade, is kind of amazing.”

– Anirudh Rahul

       When asked to look back at his high school experience, Rahul revealed that one of his fondest memories is “moving boxes at the end of this year with Mr. Marshall.” He recalls it “was pretty funny at times, mainly because Mr. Marshall is just a living legend.” 

       Anirudh Rahul also coaches lower classmen and leads extra practices to make sure the members continuously improve their performance. During the first two weeks of summer, Anirudh and other upperclassmen directed practices for the members attending this year’s National Convention. The week before the convention, Rahul gathered all available members for a week-long “Boot Camp” to further prepare them for the upcoming competition. 

       Over the years some of his greatest accomplishments have been placing in the top 300 at USACO aka the USA Computing Olympiad (a worldwide computer science competition), qualifying for AIME aka the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (meaning he was in the top 5% of all the students who took the AMC 12) and receiving a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute scholarship at Doral Academy’s annual academic awards. He has also placed in many regional competitions including FAU’s Math Day and competitions hosted by Miami Dade and FAMAT (Florida Association of Mu Alpha Theta). By his Junior year of high school, he had taken all the math classes Doral Academy offers.

       He has also made unforgettable friendships including students from a variety of other schools that he’s met throughout his many years competing in both math and computer science.

       Last week Anirudh and 19 other mathletes flew to Las Vegas, Nevada for Mu Alpha Theta’s National Convention. They won awards in a variety of categories in all 3 divisions (Mu, Alpha & Theta). Most notably, Anirudh won 1st place in Mu: Area and Volume.

       With an SAT score of 1560, Anirudh hopes to attend Stanford to study computer science next year even though he believes that “there are so many good schools with great resources and teachers [he] would be fine with going to any of them.” When he goes to college, Rahul will miss the “Sunshine state’s” weather and his family the most.

       Their favorite memories with him are mostly from when they competed with him on their team. Whether it was because he believed in them or simply because they achieved a mathematical “first” together. Another said, “My favorite memory of Ani is definitely all of those times when he’d just magically know everything…” He is also characterized as “fun and quirky, yet  extremely intelligent and hardworking” and “a great leader who shows dedication to his craft.”

       One of his friends, Raul Valle, said that one of his favorite things about Anirudh was that “he’s very easy to interact with” while another friend, Tae Lee, said it was “his willingness to help everyone and anyone and his commitment to everything from math to anime.” An additional trait his friends are fond of is his facial expressions in photos. 

“Ani is a genius, no doubt, but at the same time, he’s the perfect combination of humble and hard work on top of all of that.”

– Tae Lee

       When asked what advice he’d give to lowerclassmen he answered: “Try out a bunch of things to see what you like especially if you are young now and have a lot of time to try things out. Make sure you eventually end up focusing on one thing but make sure you’re satisfied with your choice.”

Fun Facts!

If you were a kitchen utensil, which would you be? Why?

A fork because I can deal with everything but soup.

What things do you not like to do?

I really don’t like doing work just because people tell me that I need to or that I have to. I always find myself more motivated and invested when I actually know why I am doing things.

If your life was a musical what would the opening number be?

“Imagine” by John Lennon

Who is your role model and why?

A lot of my teachers are really interesting people and great role models I’d say the ones I look up to the most are Koski, Mr.Dearing, and Prof Crudele.