“Keep things simple,” says Aadi ’26. “Develop your ideas more slowly, and by developing them more slowly, you’ll have a better foundation, so you can make them that much more interesting.” Of course, it took him a little time to learn this lesson. He came to Commonwealth a “cocky” freshman, he says; now, as a junior, he embraces the humbling challenges of advanced math classes and honing his own long-form writing, and he’s stepped into the same leadership roles as the Commonwealth alumni/ae that once welcomed him here. Did Aadi’s penchant for philosophy help him achieve this growth? Or all those hallway chats with friends and teachers? Or maybe it was just the heartbreak that comes with loving a major football team? Keep reading to draw your own conclusions.

Getting to Know You

What is bringing you joy right now? 

Honestly, the start of the new school year: going really into depth learning new stuff, seeing my friends again and forming new relationships with different friends now. This summer I did nothing!

What is your favorite book (or a book you’ve re-read)? 

The Art of Racing in the Rain [by Garth Stein]. It's a nice novel, just a fun read, even though it also has some good, heavier moments.

What are your favorite comfort foods? 

I love a good tiramisu. Also, my mom's cooking. I'll eat anything she makes. I also like cooking a bit myself. Recently, I’ve been making a lot of homemade pasta: fettuccine, then some spaghetti. I made ravioli once; it didn't turn out so well but still very edible. But I'll also eat anything.

What do you think is the most intriguing paradox? 

I like a lot of different thought experiments and just thinking about how the brain works. So the human brain is powered by as little as twelve watts, and this group of scientists in Paris recreated one cubic centimeter of the brain, dendrite for dendrite. It took up this huge warehouse in Paris and used so much energy, like, hundreds of times more than twelve watts—and that's just for one cubic centimeter. It makes you wonder if there's something more going on in our brains, like the idea of a soul. How are brains so efficient while having such insanely complicated thoughts?

When do you feel the most enjoyably challenged?

When I get to do my own long-form writing. I'm my biggest critic. Whenever I read my stuff, I constantly want to rewrite and work to get it as compact and digestible as possible. So starting with a draft that maybe is not so great, working through it for a month, and getting it to a place where I can feel happy about it is probably one of my favorite things to do.

What never fails to make you laugh?

My brother. He's off at NYU now, but we just have a really good synergy that’s tough for other people to understand, but it's fun for us.

What are people most surprised to learn about you?

I’m a very open book, but I guess there’s the fact that I really like philosophy. I read philosophy a lot. It's really important to train that skill of constantly asking questions and trying to think critically about what you rely on as true. My introduction to philosophy was this book called Sophie's World [by Jostein Gaarder]. My mom got it for me when I was 11 or 12. It’s basically a comprehensive history of philosophy told through the narrative of this girl, Sophie. I really loved it, so I got into each philosopher that was in the book, obviously starting with the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. I like Renaissance philosophy a lot; authors like Spinoza are very interesting to me. I wish Commonwealth offered a pure European Renaissance history class. 

What was/is your favorite class (at Commonwealth or elsewhere)? 

I really liked freshman-year Geometry Advanced. I've not always liked geometry, but Mr. Sherry is just such a knowledgeable teacher that it's really fun. I like all the proof-based stuff. It also humbled me a bit as a freshman. I came to school very cocky, but it taught me while also preparing me for the next couple years.

Pen or pencil? 

Pen. It's good to write with some sense of permanence.

Coffee or tea?

Tea, without a doubt. My mom makes the best chai, with ginger, cardamom, saffron—the whole thing. 

Fall, winter, spring, or summer?

Summer or maybe spring. I can't deal with the cold.

Life as a Commonwealth Student (and Beyond)

What was your first impression of Commonwealth and how has it mapped to your experience? 

When I first came to Commonwealth, I didn't like how it seemed kind of cramped—but now I feel like it’s not cramped but close, not just in the building but also in the community. I know every single person in my grade, and that's not common in a lot of high schools. That's definitely something I've loved about Commonwealth.

Using metrics besides grades, how do you define “success” in your classes?

Looking back at the first quarter’s assignments and being able to say, “That was so easy; I know so much more now,” you know? Just being able to feel and see your growth.

Your love of football (soccer) is somewhat legendary around school; tell us about your involvement with the sport and how it’s evolved over time.

It's always been in my life, but I really started watching eight-ish years ago, and since then, I've been just a huge fan. I don't know how to put it into words; it's a borderline obsession. But I wouldn't say it's in a bad way. It’s such a big sport, and there's so much to learn from it. First, you get the passion of being part of a larger community; I'm a Tottenham fan, so it's nice to go through the wins but especially the losses with the other twenty million people who are watching a game. But there's also the sport itself as a business, in marketing, in the tactical side of the game, in the player psychology. There's just so much to it. It's a huge industry, and there's a lot to learn, a lot to find interest in, a lot to be passionate about. 

I play on Commonwealth’s [boys varsity] soccer team, too. Let’s just say we do the best we can! Obviously we're not a big sports school, but it's always fun to play with everyone. 

How else do you spend your time outside of class?

I do COMMUN, which is our Model U.N. conference, and then also Debate, which are two very linked but also very different activities. 

I’ve not had a crazy amount of experience with Model U.N., but I've really enjoyed doing COMMUN these last two years. It's just really cool to see all the middle schoolers. They get so excited. They really enjoy it. And I have a lot of fun running everything, so it's cool to be a junior secretariat this year. 

Debate has really helped me be more eloquent and concise with my thoughts. I started when [recent graduate] Henry ’24 was my captain. He was a junior when I was a freshman. It's kind of crazy to think that I'm in the same place where he was when I joined. 

In my free time, I just relax, read, play games. I’ve played a lot of FIFA with my brother, more hours than I care to admit. And I just read whatever I can. I'm reading Dune right now. I don't love it, but I don't like leaving a book unfinished, because I've had a lot of books that really just turned up in the last couple chapters. They could’ve been a waste of time, but they actually really helped me.

When do you feel most connected to other students (or teachers/staff members) in our community?

When they're just willing to be very open about their lives, about school—not being critical, but being very aware of what’s around them and able to have a free-flowing conversation. One of the things that surprised me [about Commonwealth] was just being able to talk to teachers in the hall. I really like being able to talk to my teachers about school and what it's like to be a teacher, and with my friends about how they view school differently than I do and just anything. I like talking, I guess you could say.

How has your Commonwealth experience colored the way you look at the world? How you plan for your future?   

Commonwealth is a small pond, so I feel like I can make a big impact. Like, I can stand up at recess, and I know literally everyone at the school is there and will hear what I have to say. I will have to try that much harder when I leave the school to make that same level of impact. 

What’s your advice for prospective students considering Commonwealth? 

Be humble and just realize how incredible it is to be part of a community that is this close. I know it's a little bit cliché, but it's just a really cool feeling to be able to turn the corner and see someone and immediately gravitate to them and talk about whatever. There's never, never a dull day. 

What is it like going to school in Boston?

It’s just so convenient for me. It's really nice to be able to go anywhere during the school day, like the BPL [Boston Public Library]. Whenever I go there, I'm so grateful for it, because it's a great place to work with friends, but also it's huge and fun to go to and has great resources.

What would you tell your ninth-grade self?

Don't be afraid to say the obvious thing in class. I feel like I, especially in my writing, used to try to be so nuanced and complicated and mysterious, but my sentences and the way I was trying to convey my ideas ended up really convoluted. So I’d say, Slow down, keep things simple, develop your ideas more slowly, and by developing them more slowly, you’ll have a better foundation, so you can make them that much more interesting.

Meet More Commonwealth Students