Next year, Agarwalla will travel to England where he will continue his study of the Classics, specifically ancient science, at Oxford University.

Eventually, he says, he wants to attend medical school.

“I like science and I like Classics, and I like putting them together,” says Agarwalla, who fulfilled all of the pre-med requirements.

In fact, he says Greek composition and Chemistry 30, his two favorite classes at Harvard, complemented each other well because they required similar skills.

“It’s all about creativity,” he says. “I have a text I want to translate into Greek. I’ve got all these different options to use, and I can create my Greek. And then I’ve got a problem in chemistry. Okay, I need to create this molecule. I’ve got all these different things I can use.”

“Put it together, boom, I’ve got my molecule,” he says, gesticulating gracefully.

“Being pre-med and doing Classics was a phenomenal experience,” Agarwalla says. “That’s the combination that I’ve sort of had throughout my life. That’s where this speech is more like me.”

Charles B. Watson ’03, who gave the speech last year and who is currently studying the Classics at Oxford, says Agarwalla was a “fantastic choice for Latin orator.”

“PK’s poise and enthusiasm will make him an excellent speaker,” Watson says.

Watson and Agarwalla met in high school as national JCL officers and have been “comrades in Latinity” ever since. Watson says he was impressed with Agarwalla’s “sense of drive, ambition and determination.”

“He’s able to encompass so many pursuits: the future doctor, student of ancient Greek poetry, firefighter extraordinaire and unflinching Republican,” Watson says. “There is no segment of his life in which he does not have the drive to excel.”

Watson would agree that Agarwalla’s philosophy on life is summed up best by Catullus: “Amat victoria curam.”

—Staff writer Andrew C. Esensten can be reached at esenst@fas.harvard.edu.