One year after graduating from Wellington, Shivum Kalyanam ’25 reflects on his first year at Claremont McKenna College, where he's pursuing government research, student leadership, and Mock Trial.
A year after graduating from Wellington, Shivum Kalyanam ’25 hasn’t slowed down.
At Claremont McKenna College (CMC), Shivum has continued exploring his interests in government, history, and law. During his first year, he took courses in American and California politics, studied works ranging from Homer to Tolkien, joined the Mock Trial team, worked in student government, and became a research assistant with CMC’s Rose Institute of State and Local Government.
College also gave Shivum a new perspective on how Wellington had prepared him.
All CMC first-year students take Intro to American Politics, regardless of previous coursework or AP scores. For Shivum, much of the material was already familiar from Government and Advanced American History at Wellington.
He also enrolled in an upper-level California Politics course. As an Ohio native attending college across the country, Shivum wanted to learn more about the state where he was now living. He was one of only two first-year students in the course. “I was not intimidated,” said Shivum.
The structure felt familiar, too. The course included two exams and two papers, with expectations that reminded Shivum of the work he had done in Wellington classes, including Honors Memoirs, Cold War, Mock Trial, and Honors Hamlet.
His favorite experience of the year came through the same course. Shivum and his classmates traveled to Sacramento, where they met with lobbyists, representatives, budget staff, journalists, researchers, and members of the governor’s staff. “I always enjoy learning about the government by seeing it in action,” said Shivum.
Shivum Kalyanam ’25 (far right) visits Sacramento with classmates from his California Politics course at Claremont McKenna College.
And, coming from Columbus, he found something familiar in California’s capital city. “Sacramento is an underrated city and possesses many features similar to Columbus,” he said.
Shivum’s humanities coursework provided a different kind of challenge. In “Tales of the Heroic,” he read Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” Virgil’s “Aeneid,” “Beowulf,” Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion,” and other works. The course included frequent quizzes, in-class writing, exams, and discussion. The course was difficult, but Shivum found that his Wellington English classes had prepared him for the writing and discussion it required.
Beyond his classes, Shivum has found ways to continue many of the interests he had at Wellington.
After an application and interview, he was hired as Senate Secretary for the Associated Students of Claremont McKenna, a role with some obvious similarities to serving as Student Council Secretary during his senior year at Wellington.
He also joined CMC’s Mock Trial team after applying, completing a group tryout, and having an individual interview. The team has taken him to competitions in San Diego and Las Vegas. Mock Trial has become one of his favorite activities, combining skills he developed at Wellington, including public speaking, critical thinking, and group work. It has also given him a community. Some of his closest friends on campus are people he met through the team.
Shivum’s interest in government led him to the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, where he was hired as a research assistant. His first project examined California’s high-speed rail system. In the spring, he began researching Measure G, a major restructuring of Los Angeles County government.
That work continued into the summer, with Shivum studying governance structures in counties across the country and the inner workings of Los Angeles County. His research contributed to a Rose Institute report on Measure G released this fall. Shivum drafted much of the report and conducted much of its historical research. Through Rose, he has also met people working in government, including former California Gov. Gray Davis, and connected with CMC alumni in the field.
He still found some time for tennis, playing on the club team.
As his first year ended, Shivum was already preparing to take on more responsibility as a sophomore. He was elected Director of Operations for Mock Trial, responsible for managing the team’s budget, chairing board meetings, and handling organizational work. He also planned to chair a new student government committee focused on dining and campus services, lead alumni outreach for CMC’s pre-law society, and serve as a first-year guide for incoming students.
This fall brought another connection between his first and second years at CMC. Shivum began working as a teaching assistant for Intro to American Politics, the same required course he had taken as a first-year student. He now gives students feedback on assignments and helps answer questions about the material.
He also began working as a Romero Success Coach, helping students with planning, organization, and stress management.
A year away from Wellington has given him some perspective on the education and opportunities he had here. He noticed some college classmates adjusting to longer classes, heavier workloads, and the rigor of college courses, things he felt prepared to handle.
He also found himself thinking about how much he had been able to try. Theatre and Model UN aren't part of his college schedule, but he still values having had the chance to pursue them alongside athletics, music, student leadership, and academics.
Shivum Kalyanam ’25 leads a Debatriot Club meeting during his senior year at Wellington.
“The ability to do activities in a wide array of fields gave me a greater appreciation for the arts and other disciplines that not everyone seems to have,” said Shivum. “Wellington academically prepared me for college and helped me become a more well-rounded person.”
In spring 2025, Shivum said he never set out to build a perfect résumé at Wellington. “I just followed my interests,” he said.
A year later, those interests continue to take him in new directions.
Read more about Shivum's Wellington years here.