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The Student News Site of Ocean Lakes High School

The Current
The Student News Site of Ocean Lakes High School

The Current
The Student News Site of Ocean Lakes High School

The Current
Mihika Sakharpe

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Opinion Editor

Mihika Sakharpe, a junior in the Math and Science Academy, is an award-winning third-year journalist for The Current. She’s an inquisitive polyglot with a passion for anything STEM. She serves as the vice president for Model UN and Math Honor Society, and she interned at MIT this past summer. Outside of school, she loves singing, playing cricket, listening to Kpop, and drinking boba tea. She serves as a Civil Air Patrol cadet captain and hopes to study aerospace engineering and computer science in college.

All content by Mihika Sakharpe
The infographic shows the election results for each grade level at Ocean Lakes. Abbreviations are used to indicate the president (P), vice president (VP), secretary (S), treasurer (T) and historian (H). Graphic created by Mihika Sakharpe.

Meet the class officers for the 2025-26 school year

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
June 9, 2025
The cover for Bloomberg’s “Hello World” series features Ashlee Vance and a robot. Image used with permission from Ashlee Vance.

Telling the future: How Ashlee Vance brings tomorrow’s tech to life through storytelling

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
May 29, 2025
Four paper reference sheets and a pencil lie on a desk on May 17, 2025. Courses, such as AP Statistics, AP Computer Science A, AP Chemistry, and AP Biology have extensive reference sheets with important formulas and vocabulary, hence the reason why some prefer flipping through a paper copy instead of scrolling through an online one.

Debate on virtual reference sheets prompts College Board to offer AP retests

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
May 19, 2025
Mary Collier teaches her ASL students about directional verbs on April 9, 2025. As can be seen on the slide, grammatical structure in ASL is quite different from that of English. Photo used with permission from Wendy Webster.

The world behind the signs

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
April 15, 2025
Government teacher Lisa Gibson smiles as she monitors the Virginia Tech EU Simulation Debate on March 27, 2025, in the Ocean Lakes library. In addition to teaching in the social studies department, Gibson sponsors three related clubs: Model United Nations, Amnesty International and Scholastic Bowl. Photo used with permission from J. Picou - 620 Design.

New AP government elective available for course selection

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
March 31, 2025
A "no cell phone" sign hangs at the front of Fara Wiles' classroom on Jan. 28, 2025. With the implementation of the new policy, rules concerning cellular devices have become more strict and widespread.

New cell phone policy finally hits schools, and people have thoughts

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
February 1, 2025
Class of 2020 alumna Maren Kelley smiles in front of the Georgia Institute of Technology on April 7, 2024. Kelley attended the top-tier engineering school for her bachelor’s degree and will continue her journey there for her master’s degree. Photo used with permission from Maren Kelley.

Alumna pursues master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
January 24, 2025
The “Moana 2” movie poster graces the wall of the AMC at Lynnhaven Mall on Dec. 24, 2024. It depicts Moana, now three years older, with Pua in the foreground and Maui in the background.

“Moana” sequel dazzles with animated storytelling, falls flat on everything else

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
December 18, 2024
Freshmen Maya Phillips and Aimree Szczepanski show off their country attire in the English hallway on Oct. 24, 2024. This was the last spirit day before the grade-level color war and spirit assembly on Friday.

Students show off school spirit during annual Homecoming Spirit Week

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
October 26, 2024
Ayush Jain, left, and Aniketh Kolla smile near the YCombinator headquarters in Calfornia on July 13, 2024. Jain, the Class of 2022 valedictorian, and Kolla co-founded Syntra, a medical AI company. Photo used with permission from Ayush Jain.

One year, one percent chance, two million dollars

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
October 6, 2024
The American flag flies at half-mast outside Ocean Lakes High School on Sept. 11, 2024. This is done to honor the 2,977 people who were killed on that day, the deadliest terrorist attack in history.

“I saw the South Tower fall”

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
September 11, 2024
Freshmen Cormac Worrall and Fenton Million smile in the cafeteria on August 22, 2024. They had the chance to find out about the clubs and activities offered at Ocean Lakes.

New students kick off high school with busy orientation day

Mihika Sakharpe, Webmaster; Features Editor
August 24, 2024
Seniors Yuna Pak, Iana Niknezhad and Reagan Labert smile after presenting their MSA senior projects on March 8, 2024 in the Schola. The presentation panel consisted entirely of female students, as it was International Women's Day. Photo used with permission from Iana Niknezhad.

Seniors share college application tips, emphasize research and extracurriculars

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
June 12, 2024
Senior Ralitsa Hovanessian stands in front of the MIT campus in Cambridge, Mass. on Oct. 23, 2023. Sophomore Nathan He, junior Rockwell Li and Hovanessian were invited to present their research project at MIT's Undergraduate Research and Technology Conference. Photo used with permission from Ralitsa Hovanessian.

Princeton, MIT, Harvard and more top colleges compete for MSA senior

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
June 9, 2024
Seniors Jae Cook and Bailey Pohl smile after being presented with the OLTC Diamond Career Award on June 1, 2024. The award is the highest honor in OLTC. Photo used with permission from Claude Blanchard.

Top thespians recognized at theatre awards banquet

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
June 6, 2024
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, the protagonist is a young boy named Aang who must embrace his role as the Avatar to save the world from destruction. In the live-action series, he is portrayed by Gordon Cormier.

Unlike film flop, live-action adaptation of beloved show pays homage in a modern way

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
May 3, 2024
Though cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, cricket fans in America are a minority compared to fans of baseball.

An island of cricket in a sea of baseballs

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
April 14, 2024
Junior Ahana Dutta smiles with her awards for her health sciences project on March 9, 2024. Her project on the effects of HIV-1 on methylation markers won first place in the medical division and a special award from Yale. Photo used with permission from Arijit Dutta.

Students embrace the world of STEM at Tidewater Science and Engineering Fair

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
April 8, 2024
Members of the Scholastic Bowl team sit at their stations before the start of round two of Battle of the Brains on Jan. 17, 2024. From left to right: sophomore Clark Smith, junior Jackson Crickard, senior and captain Meilin Ranjan and senior Samuel Kidd. Photo used with permission from Miranda Blaser.

Scholastic Bowl maintains streak in Battle of the Brains

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
March 16, 2024
A couple of books sit on freshman Anna Keck’s table on March 2, 2024. Anna reads the books in their original Russian versions to stay connected to her language. Photo used with permission from Anna Keck.

For some students, Foreign Language Week is daily life

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
March 2, 2024
The team smiles after a dive meet on Jan. 12, 2024. Clockwise, from top left: sophomore Dylan Bennington, sophomore Patrick Kinser, sophomore MaKenna McGrath, and junior Maggie Sokalzuk. Photo used with permission from David Bostic.

Reviving the rare Olympic sport of diving at Ocean Lakes

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
February 26, 2024
Edmonia Lewis poses for a rare portrait in 1870. (Sculptress Supreme Edmonia Lewis/Robert A. Larson/WikimediaCommons/public domain)

Edmonia Lewis, the free-spirited sculptor

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
February 21, 2024
The Battle of the Brains team, composed of scholastic bowl members, is all smiles at the competition in Richmond, Va., on Oct. 5, 2023. From left to right: Austin Mao, Kaushik Tatta, Jackson Crickard, Meilin Ranjan, Samuel Kidd and Clark Smith. Photo used with permission from Miranda Blaser.

Scholastic Bowl team wins first round of local trivia show

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
January 30, 2024
A group of chorus students embarks on some sightseeing near Walt Disney World’s Hollywood area on December 7, 2023. They plan to explore for the first two days and perform on the third. Photo used with permission from Shelby Bruhjell.

Chorus travels to Florida to sing at Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
December 8, 2023
A group of finished ornaments sits on a table in Room 126 on Dec. 7, 2023. The stickers were designed by freshmen and were printed by Rebecca Strohm and her students, a real-world work experience for them. Photo used with permission from Kristi Bayer.

Class of 2027 sells handcrafted holiday ornaments this holiday season

Mihika Sakharpe, Design Editor
December 7, 2023
Freshman Tejaswini Attada makes a pass on her Chromebook to use the bathroom in the World History classroom on Oct. 26, 2023. Students are required to do this in addition to asking the teacher’s permission. Photo used with permission from Ava Kruciak.

Controversial hall pass application leads to fiery debate

Mihika Sakharpe, Staff Writer
November 14, 2023
The trademark “NASA Meatball” sits at the entrance to the NASA Langley Research Center on Oct. 21, 2023.

NASA’s oldest field center opens to the public

Mihika Sakharpe, Staff Writer
October 21, 2023
Civil Air Patrol cadets get ready to march onto the flight line as flag bearers for the Oceana Air Show’s opening parade on Sept. 16, 2023. Photo used with permission from Shea Lickfold.

Oceana Air Show celebrates women in naval aviation

Mihika Sakharpe, Staff Writer
September 25, 2023
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