Shiva Rajagopal graduated from Churchill County High School in 2011, went on to receive his degree from Cornell University, and then went to work for Fitbit in San Francisco.
Shiva was born in 1992 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Fallon in 1995 when his dad, Raj, accepted a job with the environmental department at NAS in Fallon. Shiva said, “Fallon naturally felt like home to me. Part of that is definitely the community, even before I started going to school. My mom was a librarian at the county library and the library family was pretty much my second family. They were all wonderful people. I was partially raised by the library family… so much kindness, so much knowledge.”
Often, part of Shiva’s elementary routine was to take the bus to the library after school. Staying at the library until either his mom or dad would take him home, he often was shelving books, working on some tech equipment, reading, or just helping with different projects.
In junior high and high school, Shiva was a member of the school academic team. He recalls good times with teammates and coaches as they traveled to various schools around the state and competed in quiz bowl challenges.
Shiva says that high school in Fallon was great fun and offered some ‘interesting’ times. He enjoyed his classes, the great teachers, and four years of playing tennis for the school, and still plays when he gets a chance. During these years, Shiva often helped in the Tech Club, rebuilding and fixing computers. As his knowledge grew, he was often called upon to help with tech things at the library or when someone in the community would contact him asking for assistance.
After high school, Shiva attended Cornell University in New York, from 2011-2016, where he completed his undergraduate work and earned his master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. The change New York offered was another experience that widened Shiva’s background and truly taught him a deeper understanding of what winter really means.
After graduation from Cornell, Shiva was offered a job with Fitbit and moved to San Francisco where he still resides. He loves San Francisco and finds the people are what make the city so great. “There is so much to do, parks, scenic areas to bike to, it is a great place to be.” The area also offers plenty of tech opportunities if he should decide to leave Fitbit, but right now he is content with the work he does with the software that runs inside the devices. He enjoys making devices that will help people be healthier.
He is also close to home and during 2017 was able to return to Fallon. Shiva was contacted by Garrett Kalt, a fellow classmate and organizer of Lead On, formerly called Lead Green, a non-profit organization in Churchill County that focuses on building leadership skills in local youth, and was asked to be the keynote speaker for their annual leadership conference. Shiva spoke on how to find your motivation, a skill that he uses often.
When asked about advice for others, Shiva replied, “Find what motivates you and follow that as your North Star... be reflective about what you like and don’t like, this will bring more fulfillment.” As he experienced different avenues in life, Shiva realized there was a common theme in the things that he enjoyed, “I enjoy making things that will help people.” He said “find the positives, the enjoyments and they will keep leading you forward.”
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