SENIOR SPOTLIGHT - NHS NICHOLAS KAUFMAN

Nicholas Kaufman is a senior at Northview High School. He is involved in the science club, Interact club, robotics club, and German club. Outside of school, Nicholas enjoys playing tennis and frequently participates in tennis tournaments in Indianapolis.

“I enjoy playing tennis because... it's a fast-paced sport, and I also enjoy the fact that there are some tactics to it as well. It's a lot of fun getting to meet people you play.”

In the future, Kaufman plans to attend Butler University and major in biochemistry. He will most likely attend graduate school after that. His career goal is in the pharmaceutical research and development field.

Nicholas explains that he has been motivated to pursue this field after his personal experiences with medication.

“Throughout my life, I've had to take lots of different medications. I've had some health problems earlier in my life, and medication, with some of my health problems, was just trial and error. That made me really interested [in how] other medicines would interact with each other and how they would sometimes completely negate each other's effects. I'm really interested in how the human body gets affected by the different substances and how we can use that to treat diseases in a more effective way.”

Nicholas was introduced to the idea of studying pharmacy by his older brother.

“My brother went into pharmacy, and that's kind of how I got into hearing all the things about the medications. [It's] really interesting to me, and I really hope to learn more about that.”

Kaufman's decision to attend Butler was prompted by their unique partnership with Eli Lilly, and he hopes to someday intern there.

“Butler's science department has a partnership with [Eli] Lilly, and they have extensive internships with Eli Lilly. [Butler's] labs are also mirror images of the labs with Lilly.”

Nicholas explains that his favorite part of high school has been the academics.

“I've really enjoyed actually having control over what I'm learning and being able to challenge myself with harder classes. I'm able to push myself to learn more.”

He notes that one of his proudest achievements has been his work in his community.

“I'm proud of the work I've tried to put into my community, whether that's through Interact [Club] or National Honors Society. I am proud of working for this community.”

Kaufman's role model in his life is his brother.

“I admire his dedication. When he does something, he dedicates himself to it, and he will [always see it through].”

Something on Nicholas's bucket list is to see all of the Grand Slam tennis championships.