Meet Wayland's Class of 2025 Valedictorian Jasleen Bhandal

Jasleen Bhandal, Valedictorian

Jasleen is a four-year senior from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and is the daughter of Harminder Singh and Randhir Kaur.

After graduation, Jasleen plans to attend a four-year college to pursue a neuroscience major and further expand on her interests in the medical field. 

 

What are your favorite classes?
Throughout my time at Wayland Academy, I have taken several unique classes, and each of them has taught me a different skill. Although I like all of the subjects offered at Wayland, my favorite has to be biological sciences. Specifically, I enjoyed the anatomy and physiology class that I took in my junior year because not only will I apply what I learned to my future major, but it also gave me the general knowledge needed to take care of myself and the peers around me. I find myself using the knowledge I learned in this class on a daily basis, and I believe my curiosity for the subject has benefited the Wayland community.

What is your favorite sport?
My favorite sport ever since I came to Wayland is tennis. I had never thought about playing tennis before coming to Wayland, but I heard such great things about the sport, so I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and join the team. This decision was one of the best choices I made, as I quickly met many friendly, talented people who guided me in becoming the tennis player that I am today. My four years of tennis at Wayland have taught me the values of sportsmanship, leadership, determination, humility, and friendship, which make me grateful for my decision to join the team.

What have you learned from your experience as a student leader at Wayland? 
I have held various leadership roles at Wayland including Medical Research Club leader, Wayland Science Olympiad Team leader, tennis varsity captain, basketball JV captain, track and field varsity captain, and backstage crew manager. The large variety of leadership roles have exposed me to different environments and students with all kinds of learning styles. This exposure has truly helped me cultivate my leadership skills to guide diverse groups of students.

My favorite thing about Wayland is the community. Wayland embraces diversity with open arms, and it makes sharing my culture and learning about other cultures easy. The Culture Convention, unique to Wayland, is a great example of this. In the past two years that I participated in Culture Convention, I noticed that each student is enthusiastic to take a role in the event, including my own group. We form a sacred bond that allows me to comfortably talk about my culture and excitedly find connections between my culture and others. This bond is something I will not be able to find at just any school, and the existence of the Culture Convention at Wayland helped me in making my peers feel at home. I can confidently say that Wayland really is a second home to me.

One thing I’ve learned about myself while attending Wayland is that I am someone who values having a strong support network. I feel that I received this at Wayland because I have a variety of mentors whom I look up to for advice. They have played a significant role in my achievements, as they have given me various opportunities to develop my passion for athletics, academics, and community contributions, of which I am extremely grateful.

One of the goals I met during my time here at Wayland was through my Senior Capstone project. For my Senior Capstone, I started Wayland’s very first Science Olympiad team and trained them to participate in the regional tournament in Madison, Wisconsin. Initially, my passion for science had motivated me to pursue this project because I wanted to provide a competitive science opportunity for students who wanted to explore the subject at a deeper level. My goal was to show how having scientific knowledge can change and influence your life, just like it has influenced me to help others. This goal was met when my team and I successfully competed in the regional tournament. I also solidified plans for a recurring Science Olympiad team at Wayland Academy to continue my legacy of providing a competitive science opportunity.

I am “Wayland Made” because the skills and values that I have been taught at this school are not just ones that I will use at Wayland, but also throughout my time beyond Wayland. Part of being “Wayland Made” is having the privilege of receiving an education that prepares you for your goals after Wayland. The other part of being “Wayland Made” is exploring all the opportunities at Wayland and figuring out who you are. I feel that Wayland has helped me successfully find who I am, and I am prepared to achieve the goals that I strive for after I graduate.

My advice for future Wayland students is to enjoy each moment of their time at the Academy and find the subject that sparks their curiosity. The subject that sparks your curiosity could be many things, some even unrelated to your own current interests. However, do not be afraid of trying something new because you never know how much fun you will have until you try it yourself.