Alumni Devansh Mishra as varsity soccer captain led his team to the semi-finals. From a young age, he was dedicated to soccer and practiced every day after school. Fellow alumni Aritra Jindal, a childhood friend of Devansh’s, recalls watching Devansh train hard every day. “When I played with Devansh in elementary school, it was clear that he was the best player on the field. With that being said, I certainly didn’t think he would go this far with soccer potentially being his profession,” Jindal said.

Mishra was an outstanding defender and didn’t allow anyone to get past him. Mishra and Jindal would watch soccer with each other every weekend, “particularly the ones in which our favorite teams were playing. My favorite team was Arsenal and his Schalke,” Jindal said.

Mishra aspired to become a professional soccer player and liked Sergio Ramos, one of the best defenders in soccer history’s playstyle. Mishra played on one of the best youth teams in Maryland, where he met his friend Avi Greenfeld. They played on the same team together from fourth grade until the end of high school. Mishra has lots of memories with Greenfeld, including naming his team “Rainbow Bagels” for a tournament when the coach didn’t show up. “Playing soccer with Devansh was always a privilege. He was extremely driven to be the best, and he inspired me to work harder on and off the field,” Greenfeld said.

As high school came around, the amount of work increased as Mishra took AP classes while juggling school and club soccer. “In high school, it was lots of work since school plus soccer took up most of my day as well as the gym,” Mishra said.

Mishra completed a remarkable accomplishment when he got called up from junior varsity to play on the varsity team. The team reached the Maryland tournament’s semi-finals, with Mishra captaining the team, a feat which this school has struggled to do for the past few years.

After soccer practice, he would eat a snack and get straight onto his work, not wasting any time, maintaining a consistent and efficient sleep schedule. Mishra’s discipline allowed him to improve as a soccer player, and the Rochester Institute of Technology scouted him to play soccer. Unsure whether he wanted to devote his career to soccer, Mishra decided to study engineering. “I’m also studying to be a mechanical engineer, so that is an alternate pathway if I don’t go professionally,” he said.

Mishra has balanced soccer and school and is now on a semi-professional team. He has dreams of becoming one of the world’s best soccer players.