Warwick Valley High School junior Tanya Sinha. (
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Warwick Valley High School junior Tanya Sinha transferred to the district just last year, so she could take advantage of the many Advanced Placement course options and abundance of academic and social clubs.
“It’s almost overwhelming, the amount of clubs and things, but I’m part of so many now,” Sinha said, adding that her parents are immigrants from India, making her a first-generation American citizen. “I have rights that my parents don’t have, like, jury duty. Such a simple thing, but my parents have no idea how to tell me how to do that. I want to make sure I’m an informed citizen.”
Sinha recently prepared her keynote speech for the 2023 Junior Leadership Orange (JLO) graduation ceremony. Being part of JLO during her eighth grade year was one of the first times that she began to understand a number of things that her family otherwise had little frame of reference. JLO selects a program alumnus to speak each year, and Executive Director Karolyn Thompson selected Sinha to address this year’s class.
“This year I was invited back to be on the Youth Philanthropist Panel because of my involvement with volunteering,” she said. “My speech is going to talk about how the JLO program has shaped me now - three, four years later - and how it’s affected me.”
Her involvement with JLO is why Youth in Government was the first club she wanted to join when she got to Warwick. This year, she has been serving as its vice president.
“Going into it, I really knew nothing about politics, very minimal,” Sinha said. “We learn about the different parties, the jobs of senators and legislative branches. I never knew any of that stuff going in.”
Her Youth in Government peers from across the county elected her to shadow an Orange County judge. She was able to watch different trials and experience what a day serving on the courts is like. Sinha said Youth in Government has also helped her build valuable public speaking and communications skills, which she puts to use in yet another club, Model UN.
On top of pursuing political and international interests, she is also vice president and treasurer of the Autism Awareness Club. She participates in SADD and the Chronic Illness Awareness clubs, is a member of the Math Team, and took part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Conference last summer.
Outside of school, Sinha has been an active volunteer with the Indian Association of the Catskill Region (IACR) since she was 7 years old.
“Being a first generation, I want my culture to live on past me and my brother, so I’m part of the leadership and we basically just help make sure our culture stays intact. We celebrate our traditions, we celebrate our holidays,” she said.
Sinha also finds the time to play four sports. She is a member of the inaugural WV Wildcats Girls’ Flag Football team, and trains and competes in boxing, Taekwondo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
She said that while she has yet to zero in on a specific career path, her interests in international affairs, business, and government are all big considerations. She said she’s also taking a marketing class and AP government next year, and feels like getting a feel for them will help her see she is “leaning one way or the other.”
“I know this sounds weird coming from someone who is involved with so many things, but I wish more people took the time to really enjoy high school,” Sinha said. “All of the things I choose to do are things I enjoy doing; I’d do them without putting them on an application or resume. I just think it’s important that if you’re going to fill your time, that you do it with things that are important to you.”