Fifteen-year-old Sidharth Gopisetty was asked to complete this sentence: “My life will be a success if I…”
He didn’t hesitate: “My life will be a success if I’m able to help others more.”
The Inderkum High School sophomore is so committed to public service that he won a statewide International Baccalaureate award recently for Outstanding Community Service by a student in IB’s Middle Years Programme, covering grades 6-10.
The award was a huge surprise, he said, because he doesn’t expect to be honored for doing what’s right – helping others. “I think it’s a moral duty to help other people,” he said.
Sidharth already has a long list of community service accomplishments, including creating a UNICEF Cub at Inderkum, spearheading a drive to help Butte County fire victims, raising more than $1,000 for Polycystic Kidney Disease Research, and assisting Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.
An exemplary student in rigorous academic coursework, Sidharth also has volunteered as a homework coach at the North Natomas library and served on the local library’s Teen Advisory Board.
“Sidharth Gopisetty is perpetually cheerful and seems to be a natural-born leader,” Inderkum IB leaders Jessica Downing and Theresa Quinby jointly wrote in nominating him for the statewide service award.
“Looking a little deeper, it may be better to describe him as having an inborn desire to serve others, with leadership skills that have been honed through an abundance of experience, impressive for someone only midway through his sophomore year,” the IB leaders wrote.
Sidharth’s passion for service stems largely from a trip to India when he was 10 years old. He helped distribute food, books and art supplies to orphans. He also visited a home for the aged, handing out blankets, clothes and health supplements.
“It gave me a happiness I had not felt before,” he said of helping the needy in India. “This gave me a realization that one has to live not only for themselves but for others, too.”
“Community service gave me this purpose to better the way I live by helping others who have struggled in life, faced difficulties beyond comprehension, and lost more than I believed,” he said.
Sidharth realizes that one person alone can’t solve the world’s problems or ease the world’s pain, but perhaps he can inspire someone else, then that person inspire someone else and “it spreads around, so more people will help out,” he said.
“What I discovered was that an advocate for change wasn’t the loudest voice in the room, but the most persistent,” he said.
In his spare time, Sidharth enjoys reading, studying world events, and playing on the Tiger tennis team. He also enjoys debating, and he’s helping Inderkum build a debate club. Meanwhile, he competes in debate for Mira Loma High School in the San Juan Unified School District.
Asked to describe himself, Sidharth said he likes to think of himself as hard-working, outgoing, trustworthy, loyal, and someone who loves to talk about numerous topics.
In keeping with his commitment to help others, Sidharth wants to be a neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon someday.
He also wants to form a nonprofit group committed to preservation of the Earth. “I feel it’s a pressing issue that our Earth is deteriorating, so I really want to help with that,” he said.
