Whiz Kid: Sona Jain

This week’s Whiz Kid has a way with words! Sona Jain, a student, is one of the rising talents on the school's speech and debate team.

Her mother, Hemlatha Samdaria, and father, Lalit Samdaria, both studied in India. Mr. Samdaria continued his studies stateside with a master's degree at Adelphi University. Her sister, Neha Samdaria is 21, is a senior at Caltech.

Sona is interested in studying international relations at college and is already considering law school.

Whiz Kid’s Name: Sona Jain

Whiz Kid’s Age: 16-years-old

Whiz Kid’s School: San Marino High School

Whiz Kid’s Accomplishment: Placed 6th at the Fall Varsity (a Speech and Debate big league tournament) and lead the team to a 2nd place overall victory.

Whiz Kid’s Key to Awesomeness: If you consider the fact that one of the greatest fears of teens everywhere is public speaking, Sona is one fearless teen. She is just one of the many talented young students that make San Marino High School’s Speech and Debate Team excel.

What is the secret to her success?: Sona realizes that while confidence, talent, self-motivation, hard work and perseverance play a large role in one’s success, the core of Speech and Debate is still – contrary to popular belief – teamwork. She understands how important her teammates’ support and her coach’s mentorship (Matt Slimp) have on her ability to not only perform well, but push her to improve.  The team’s overall success is in large part due to the amount of time and effort each team member devotes to completing their tasks.  Moreover, the love and encouragement of her parents gives her the self-assurance she needs to do well.

Bonus Questions

What is your favorite food? Spaghetti

What is the last book you ready for pleasure? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

If you had the power to change one thing in the world to make it a better place, what would it be? I would strive to eliminate corruption in third world countries