From the football field to the classroom: Janis Vanags
Janis giving a eloquent presentation ( Ryan Win-Ruan/ Puma Prensa)
By Ryan Win-Ruan, staff writer
It’s a typical Tuesday, fourth period, just a normal, everyday math class. All of a sudden, a booming voice breaks through the hushed chatter, shattering the relative silence of the room: “I’ve got it!” The class turns to look at the source of the near-seismic vocal spike; it’s none other than Janis Vanags.
Freshman Janis Vanags, known among fellow students for his rather eccentric personality and thunderous voice, is one of many up-and-coming student athletes in Maria Carrillo High School’s freshman class, playing a myriad of sports like football, club wrestling, and track, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.
Although he unfortunately suffered a major wrist injury and couldn’t play football for the first half of the fall season, it healed well and Vanags is now a proud member of some of Carrillo’s many sports teams, saying that, “[doing sports] really helps build character and discipline.” He doesn’t recommend doing any specific sports, believing that everyone should do whatever sport they think fits them, but he says that “everybody should be at least a little involved” in Carrillo’s sports organizations to encourage a sense of unity amongst the school’s students and community.
When it comes to sports, Vanags has cited his older brother and father as his role models. His brother, Vitauts, was formerly a player on Carrillo’s football and track teams, both of which Vanags decided to join as well, following in his brother’s footsteps. Vanags has stated that his brother is “a generally good guy,” and mentions that Vitauts is his inspiration for tons of the activities that he enjoys participating in today.
Vanags has also frequently credited his experiences with team sports like football for improving his time management skills and camaraderie with other classmates and fellow players. He also accredits much of his personality to his sports, and mentions that much of his sense of extrovertedness and outgoing personality are reinforced by the interactions he has with his teammates on a frequent basis.
In the classroom, Vanags is a very capable student; he is in four Honors classes, and some of his extracurriculars revolve around academics. For example, he is a former Mathcounts (an organization which teaches high-school math to 5th through 8th graders) member, and came in fourth place at the 2023 regional competitions—an achievement which he takes great pride in. Although he initially had problems balancing his school work and athletics, he eventually managed to figure out an effective schedule (even though he does occasionally have to stay up to complete projects) to balance his work and sports, gradually “learning to live with it” and adapt to fix the issue.
Long term, Vanags wants to keep sports as a hobby, but he doesn’t want to get a job in the sports industry. He plans on pursuing a career in engineering instead, using his academic capabilities to create a stable economic path for himself.
Vanags has proven himself to be a reliable athlete and student, and his confident, outgoing demeanor is just the right thing to bring a comedic air to any place, be it a classroom or the track.