Note from the writers:

Hi Paly, we’re Kyla and Anaya, and we will be writing a column in every issue, focusing on a different member of our student body. We believe that everyone has an important and interesting story to tell, and this year we want to bring a focus on stories that may fall under the radar. 

We’re so excited for you to get to know more people at our school and hope you enjoy the column. If you have any questions or know someone who has a story they want to share, please reach out to us.

Genius in Training: Kamran Bastani

Senior Kamran Bastani, or Genius in Training to his YouTube channel subscribers, has been making videos about math, science and engineering for around three months. Bastani moved to Palo Alto during his sophomore year, after living near Cambridge, England for nine years. Paly has a far heavier focus on sports than his school in England did, and Palo Alto students are more interested in computer science and engineering, which Bastani looks forward to focusing on in college. 

Bastaini said he enjoyed living in both places for different reasons. 

“I like them equally but when I lived in England we were more in the country and I think if I had to choose I would rather be in a city here in America” said Bastani. 

Bastani also likes to run and has met many of his friends through Paly’s cross country team. He is also a part of a junior youth empowerment program, where he serves as a mentor. The group puts together service projects, such as organizing food drives and writing kind notes for the members’ neighbors. 

Bastani says his biggest fear is failing, which he defines as “not accomplishing anything meaningful or anything big.”

For Bastani, something meaningful would be to make education more available, which he is already working to do through “Genius in Training,” his YouTube channel. 

“I just recently started over the summer just for fun,” Bastani said. “I just made a YouTube channel that (has) math and science stuff. I sort of defined math and science stuff, like Pascal’s triangle.” 

Bastani also discusses ciphers, Newton’s Cradle and magnetism on the channel, and he said he has plans to discuss more puzzles in future videos. 

Bastani said, “Education opens so many doors and a lot of people just don’t have access to it.”