At only 15 years old, sophomore Sahana Nagandla has already established herself as one of Cal High’s most promising young coders.
Nagandla’s most recent accomplishment was being the only Cal student selected to attend Ascend, a prestigious, all-expenses-paid hackathon sponsored by SpaceX and organized by the nonprofit Hack Club.
The event, exclusively for female and non-binary students, spanned three days from Nov. 15-17, 2024: one at SpaceX in Starbase, Texas, and two in Hawthorne, an area next to SpaceX in southern Texas near the Mexico border.
Nagandla learned of the opportunity to attend Ascend at another hackathon in Oakland, and despite initial doubts, she applied. The application focused on Nagandla’s passion for coding and, encouraged by her family, she poured her heart into it.
Nagandla’s interest in programming began in middle school, inspired in part by her parents, both of whom work in software. She quickly found it intuitive and enjoyable, so she dove deeper into it.
Over the years, she has mastered multiple programming languages and even teaches basic programming to others.
In class, Nagandla has proven to be a patient and an understanding person, something that has helped her in many other areas.
AP Computer Science Principles teacher Sean Raser praised Nagandla’s technical skills.
“She’s obviously a very talented programmer,” Raser said. “She knows her stuff really well.”
Attending Ascend proved to be a transformative experience. The hackathon was highly competitive. Despite the pressure, she embraced the opportunity.
“Everyone was experienced , and that made them have strong opinions,” Nagandla said. “Everyone wanted to be a leader.”
Nagandla said she collaborated with students from across the globe, including places like Italy and Nairobi, and helped develop a project praised by the judges.
Visiting SpaceX was another highlight as she got to tour rocket assembly areas and learn how robots are programmed for automation.
“They have a person who programs the instructions for the robots,” Nagandla said. “so learning how they do that was amazing.”
She was especially inspired by meeting other girls like her who were creative, curious and driven.
“It wasn’t competitive in a negative way,” Nagandla said. “It was just really creative.”
While coding has taken center stage in recent years, Nagandla is also passionate about writing. She has won numerous awards for her storytelling, most recently taking first at the Tri-Valley Writers Contest.
Her latest story, a subtle and open-ended piece, remains one of her favorites. She said her stories often reflect personal moments in her life.
“I think real life, real people, and real places are the main things that inspire my stories,” Nagandla said. “Most of my stories are literary nonfiction- they tell real memories in a more cinematic or story-like format.”
For her, writing and coding have surprising similarities.
“The main connection I see is, you have a problem to solve in both,” Nagandla said. “In writing, your goal is to convey a message to the reader, and in coding you’re solving a task. In both, there are multiple paths to the solution.”
One of Nagandla’s friends, sophomore Advika Richhariya, remembers meeting her in middle school.
“I could tell from her smartness that she’s a really driven, passionate individual,” Richhariya said.
Nagandla’s mother, Sindhu Putumbaka, has supported her daughter’s coding from the start. She noted that Nagandla began with Python before exploring areas like AI and machine learning.
The news that Nagandla was accepted to Ascend brought pride and emotion to her family.
“We encourage her to enjoy the process,” Putumbaka said. “There’s so much to learn in every step.”
Despite her growing list of achievements, Nagandla remains grounded. Her family emphasizes humility and impact over awards.
Now, Nagandla is working to start a Hack Club at Cal. Her goal is to inspire others and build a support system for students interested in tech.
As her journey continues, she hopes to pursue a career in technology that also incorporates storytelling and design. She dreams of creating meaningful user experiences that blend logic with creativity.
