Alex Wilaniskis is a 13-year-old 7th grader at East Ridge Middle School in Whitesburg, northeastern Tennessee. He enjoys studying geography and plants and hopes to become a botanist. His interests include playing music; he’s taken part in piano recitals and was the top percussionist in a band. He’d like to …

Karthik Karnik is a 14-year-old 8th grader at King Philip Regional Middle School in Norfolk, southwest of Boston. He represented Massachusetts at the 2011 National Geographic Bee. He enjoys chess, soccer and tennis and using his knowledge of geography to analyze world events. He’d like to visit another planet that …

Arnav Jagasia is a 14-year-old 8th grader at Radnor Middle School in Wayne, northwest of Philadelphia. He performs and competes in piano festivals and enjoys sight-reading new music. He’s training for a black belt in Tang Soo Do. He hopes to have a career in international business. He’d like to …

Gabe Cuneo is a 12-year-old 6th grader at Shepherd Lutheran School in Albuquerque. He is the 2012 state champion for the American Scholastic Achievement League’s Scholastic Challenge. He has taken eight top finishes in state swimming events, including 2nd in 50m backstroke. He enjoys biking. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About National …

Daniel Picard is a 13-year-old 7th grader at Berry Middle School in Hoover, south of Birmingham. He represented Alabama at the 2011 National Geographic Bee. He’s on his school’s math team and the Scholars’ Bowl team that competed in the state tournament. He plays the tenor saxophone and the piano …

Max Levine is a 13-year-old 6th grader at Wheeler School in Providence. He enjoys drawing maps of real and made-up countries, using Google Earth, playing the violin and reading atlases and almanacs. He would like to write travel books, be a geography professor or have his own travel show. ➡ …

Ari Papahronis is a 13-year-old 7th grader at Sequoyah Middle School in Edmond, near Oklahoma City. He plays the trumpet in the Central Oklahoma Directors Association Honor Band; he also plays the piano. Among those he admires are his teachers. He’d like to visit China and Japan because of their …

Sid Kurella is a 13-year-old 8th grader at Crossroads North Middle School in Monmouth Junction, a suburb of South Brunswick. He has a 2nd-degree black belt in Taekwondo. He earned 2nd- and 3rd-place medals in the New Jersey Science Olympiad. He’s interested in computer programming. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About National …

Hayden Toftner is an 11-year-old 6th grader at Olentangy Berkshire Middle School in Galena, north of Columbus. Interests include reading, developing details of his imaginary country and computer games. The best place he has been to is Maine; he enjoyed hiking and eating lobster. He would like to visit Germany. …

Caroline Peterson is a 14-year-old 8th grader from Granger, representing St. Joseph County Homeschoolers, South Bend. She’s played the violin for 10 years and is assistant principal second violin in a youth orchestra. She has written three novels and enjoys Latin, literature and history. Her dream is to be a …