This previously ran in our 2022 June Senior Issue.

Through four years at EHS, Jai Puri acknowledges his discovering of his identity while participating in the FBLA and being a member of National Honor Society.

As of 2020, Jai Puri took to his interest in art and created a commitment to graphic design and digital art. Puri’s self-taught skill in digital art landed him commissioning art for jewelry companies. With Puri’s talent in economics, he’s currently managing a workin-progress company dedicated to digital design. Puri plans to attend Temple University to major in finance. 

Stinger: What motivated you throughout all these four years, especially with the pandemic? 

Puri: My mom passed. It was obviously a very pivotal moment in my life because I felt like I didn’t really have anybody to console me or to help me. I felt really lost. And I know it sounds really cliche and stuff, but during that isolation period, I was able to find myself and I didn’t know I was able to be like that. It sparked the rate of growth and that growth has changed me as a person. I think people should just stop and think about who they are and what their identity is, instead of following other people or letting other people influence your decisions and just being their own person. I think that really helped me progress through the rest of high school. 

Stinger: How did you get into graphic design? 

Puri: During quarantine, I think that’s where it started. I kind of had a general interest in art…but I never took any art classes here. I never really did anything outside of school [art related]. So, slowly, I started learning. I remember I was browsing on Instagram one time, in 2020, and I came across a couple of posts that I thought were interesting. It was this kind of digital art, and I was like, “Hey, I want to kind of do something like this.” I bought the Adobe suites…I started teaching myself how to create cool designs from whatever came to my mind then translated into the computer. A lot of my inspirations came from my dreams…The next day, I would try to recreate them…I took pictures of nature. I import some of those photos as textures into Photoshop, and I create these cool designs. So everything is abstract. 

Stinger: How would you describe your high school experience? 

Puri: I think the best word to describe [my] high school experience would probably be “growth.” When I first came into high school as a freshman, I surrounded myself with people that reflect who I was and I realized that, especially when quarantine happened. I isolated myself and wanted to self reflect. I used that time to help myself distance from certain people and grow and interact with people who better suited me. I think that’s a really important factor to consider in your high school experience. Who you hang out with really determines the experience. 

Stinger: What’s your favorite high school memory? 

Puri: Recently, I went on a field trip to the Lehigh Valley Gap… We went on a hike on this mountainous part of the Appalachian Trail. It was a six-mile hike, it was really fun. I went with a lot of my friends for our environmental science class and I think that was a great experience. I got to bond with a lot of people that I wouldn’t have gotten to bond with if it wasn’t for that trip.

Stinger: What was your favorite class? 

Puri: Freshman year, I took Geometry Honors and [it] was very hard … But I think it was my favorite class just because [I had] a good teacher, first of all, but secondly, I like that was one of the classes where I didn’t get an A. I got a B and at that time, I was afraid of getting that grade. If I didn’t get an A, I would freak out. But this experience taught me to deal with it…So that’s probably why it was my favorite class as I learned from the failure. 

Stinger: Where do you see yourself in a couple years? 

Puri: My plan right now is to graduate college, obviously. I want to go for my master’s or my MBA. That’s my long-term goal. But my short-term goals are primarily personal. I want to learn more about myself. I want to travel the country…I just see myself opening up.