David Mekeel: Wilson student makes short work of high school

Jun. 2—Learning has always come naturally for Nikita Patel.

At only 2 years old, she was already reading and writing. By seventh grade she was three years ahead in the Wilson School District's math curriculum.

By ninth grade she had taken — and aced — every math class available in the district. And when she was in eighth grade she pulled off a perfect score on the math section of the SAT exam.

"From the beginning, learning has always come very easy to me," Patel said. "I'm able to retain information at an abnormally high rate."

Patel progressed through school without slowing down. She tore through classes at a frantic rate.

As a result, Patel, who lives in Sinking Spring, will graduate from Wilson High School on Friday evening just a handful of days after turning 16. She's finishing high school a full two years early.

"I think it's going to be very emotional for my parents," she said of her expectations for the ceremony. "It means I'll be leaving them at 16. But for me it's going to be a very proud moment."

Patel credits her parents — Nimish and Lina Patel — for much of her success. They pushed her, she said, but also made sure she enrolled in activities that brought her joy.

"I know I couldn't have done it on my own," she said. "My entire success is a result of them."

Sprinting through the course book

Patel made short work of the courses offered at Wilson.

She took summer courses and studied independently, jumping her ahead of her classmates. And during the regular school year she loaded up with as many classes as she could fit into the day.

Despite her full schedule, Patel also pursued endeavors other than her classes.

An interest in inventing she had been nurturing since sixth grade blossomed as she obtained three patents in environmental sustainability and health science research.

She developed an aquaponics system that grows plants while filtering drinking water, an aquaponic system that filters water while also producing energy and a drug delivery system.

She has been working with a pharmaceutical company on further developing her drug delivery system.

Patel has also pursued her passion for classical Indian dancing and is an accomplished musician. And, this past school year, she served as a teacher's assistant for an Advanced Placement calculus course at Wilson.

"I'm the kid everyone comes to for homework questions," said Patel, who was selected as the Reading Eagle's Berks' Best 2022 winner in mathematics.

Somehow, despite all of that, she found the time to also take 10 classes this school year.

Her rapid pace created a challenge when it came time for picking classes. Patel said that last year, her freshman year at Wilson, she was trying to figure out what to take as a sophomore with her teacher.

"I had trouble finding much," she said.

There weren't many classes she hadn't already taken, so Patel ended up enrolling in three courses at Albright College: multiple variable calculus, chemistry and college resources.

And when she started looking ahead toward next year, Patel realized that she had simply tapped out what high school has to offer. She had already completed the entire Advanced Placement curriculum, meaning going back for her junior year didn't make much sense.

"If I was to stay another year I'd literally have nothing to take," she said. "I had the stark realization that I wouldn't have anything left to do."

So, she decided it was time to close the high school chapter of her life and move on to the next chapter.

Her next steps

Patel will head to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., this fall.

The college has offered her a $178,000 merit scholarship.

While there, she will not be easing the throttle. Not even a little.

Patel will major in biomedical engineering while pursuing a premed track. She plans to follow that up with medical school and a career in vascular surgery.

"My lifelong goal has been becoming a vascular surgeon," she said.

Patel said she has always had a very deep interest in medicine, and by becoming a vascular surgeon she'll be able to use some of her most substantial passions on a daily basis.

She said she also likes the idea that vascular surgeons treat very specific issues. That means they typically see their patients for the rest of their lives.

"I want to have a relationship with my patients," she said. "I want to be part of something bigger than a career. I want my patients to be friends, to be family."