Tejas Venkateswaran, FA class of 2018, visited campus this week. He just completed his junior year at the University of Hartford and came by my office to provide an update. By way of background, Tejas is one of our international alumni. He came to Franklin Academy from Hong Kong at the start of his junior year. While he made tremendous progress over two years with us, he and his parents decided to invest in a FLI postgraduate year before applying to college. Once the University of Harford accepted him, Tejas enrolled in our FACTS program that provides coaching support for Franklin alumni in college.

Now, Tejas is pursuing a major in Computer Science and a minor in Psychology. In addition to FACTS, he has access to the University’s tutoring center.  He also receives extended time on exams. Tejas is very proud of his 3.6 GPA. Upon graduation next year, he intends to begin a career as a software engineer, wanting the practical experience of work before considering the possibility of an advanced degree. When I asked him about friends in college, he said that the first year of the pandemic made friendships a difficult challenge. This year has been better, and he enjoys a good group of friends that he met through his classes. However, wanting to experiment with meeting different people, Tejas decided to join a campus Gospel Choir Singing Club. Wow, talk about venturing beyond your comfort zone!

Tejas left my office to join Billy Petty ’10, Royce Manifold ’13, and Lauren Klein ’15 for an afternoon alumni panel presentation to our FLI students. How appropriate that their talk focused on strategies for making friends in college.

PS: Kinsley Rausch-Dudzic, Associate Director of Advancement, heard that Tejas was in my office and came by to say hello.