StandUp for Kids – Atlanta
Parkview High School senior Kaustov Chakrabarti is wise beyond his years. At 18 years old, he’s thinking not hours and days ahead, but rather in terms of years.
A typical day for the Lilburn resident starts well before the 7:17 a.m. warning bell for first period at Parkview High School and lasts long after the final whistle of football practice for the Panthers.
“I wanted to separate myself from other students and help myself become more successful,” Chakrabarti said. “Not just in school but in life and my relationships.”
During the first semester of his freshman year, Chakrabarti’s father, Satyam, died from brain cancer on Sept. 15, 2015.
A year later in October, his mother, Kumkum, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died almost a year later during her son’s junior year of high school. She was 57.
“It was a lot to process when it happened just because my guardians are gone,” Chakrabarti said. “I depended on my parents for guidance, support, just basically everything.”
The Parkview teenager said he slipped into a state of mental shock as he picked up the pieces and moved in with his aunt and uncle to their Lilburn residence.
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