Mariat Thankachan, a senior at The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, is always knee-deep in schoolwork. However, this never affects her very likable personality. She never fails to surprise the people around her, nor does she ever fail to put a smile on her friends’ faces.

“She just came into our room one day and I was listening to music. Then suddenly, she takes my phone and starts dancing in the mirror,” junior Sarena Patel stated.

“She is really fun to be around. One of our favorite things to do is just tease each other,” junior River Gordon added.

Thankachan was born in India and lived there for eight years before moving to the United States. She studied at Clarksdale High School before coming to MSMS.

“I grew up in the mountains of India, so I know all about the traditional culture and the backwaters of Kerala. During the middle of third grade, my family moved to South Carolina, then the Mississippi Delta. I would say eight years in the U.S. has definitely helped me grow more independent and adaptable. I feel like I’m not meant to stay in one place for too long, and I’m always down for adventure,” Thankachan said.

Thankachan is involved in numerous clubs at MSMS. She is the Co-Editor in Chief of The Vision, attorney and witness for Mock Trial, Co-President of SEAL and the Community Service Director for SGA. With SEAL, she worked really hard to get a grant for a recycling project along with her team, in an effort to establish electronic waste removal services for the community. Thankachan was also very involved with the Mock Trial team and won third place in state with her team. Even with all this going on, she continues to keep up her hobbies, including painting. She even displays her paintings on www.mthankachan.wixsite.com/paintinglife. She also shows her creative side through her favorite class, Creative Writing taught by Mrs. Emma Richardson.

“I love Creative Writing. It has to one of my favorite classes. There’s something inspiring about listening to Mrs. Richardson read her favorite selections for the week and give examples of various types of writing that the students can try. The class also has a system where we get in a circle and read our works for the week out loud. My classmates never fail to bring both creativity and humor into their stories and poems. There’s no judgement on whatever you choose to write, so I’ve received the opportunity to create stories about love-struck zombies and even a robot army.”

Thankachan is also an MSMS Emissary and has created a relationship with her juniors that could never be broken.

“Shoutout to my junies Sara Scott, Sarena Patel, Kyra Moody and Sara Sheward. I love all of them and my adopted junies and everybody else too. They’ve all helped me grow in many ways, so I’m thankful that these kids came into my life.”

Thankachan is planning on studying Biological Science or Kinesiology in order to become a physical therapist. However, “If the immigration system makes me go back to India, then I might become a lawyer or journalist. Physical therapy is not really a thing there,” Thankachan stated.