Hello! My name is Shaina Premraj and I am currently a junior at Mass Academy. My sending school is Grafton High School where I have lived all my life. I enjoy baking, spending time with family, and learning new things, which is one of the main reasons I am so excited and blessed for this opportunity to attend Mass Academy. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would just like to say hi!
My family consists of my mom, dad, older sister Davina, and little brother Javan. We enjoy going to the beach, playing card games, and watching movies together. Although my sister is in college, we still spend time together and enjoy watching Netflix shows on the weekend!
Ever since I was 5, the piano has played a pivotal role in my life. My mother was my inspiration as she was musical from a young age as well. As I entered elementary school, I discovered my passion for percussion, playing the xylophone in school, and the drum set in my spare time. I enjoyed playing for the Jazz Band in middle school in addition to participating in Junior Districts during COVID. Music is always something I can do when I just need a break, and I enjoy learning songs that I hear on the radio in addition to classicial pieces.
I have really enjoyed volunteering for WRAPS (Worcester Refugee Assistance Project) mainly due to the fact that I am able to work with kids. Furthermore, I also had the privilege of tutoring a small group of them over the summer on their reading comprehension skills, which allowed me to become more flexible and adapt to how each of the different children learned. From learning how to be patient with kids as they navigate their way through the world of STEM, to running around playing soccer with them, I have enjoyed every moment. Seeing the light bulb go off in their head when they understand something is priceless, and makes me really enjoy having the ability to be able to help out these children. This leadership opportunity offered me skills in collaboration as well, and I will be helping run WRAPS on behalf of Mass Academy my senior year. In addition I also volunteered at the Community Harvest Project over the summer where I harvested and tended to the growing crop, as well as watching toddlers and youth in the kids room at my church. My faith has always played a significant role in my life, and especially after the pandemic I felt a new sense of identity and connection to my faith. I grew up in church and going through the childcare system there myself always made me want to partake in it when I was older. Seeing these kids at even such a young age have such a passion to grow in their faith everyday truly inspires me to always give the glory to Him. I have taken part in various aspects of my church, however one goal I have is to play piano for our worship team. Attached below are the links to the WRAPS and Community Harvest websites!
I also enjoy traveling and my favorite place I’ve been so far has been London. From the various tourist attractions, to Highclere Castle (where one of my favorite shows Downton Abbey was filmed), I have always enjoyed new adventures. I also try to better-enjoy public speaking, and was able to do this by taking part in the Lions Club Speech Competition for the past two years. Participants are given a prompt to write a five to eight-minute speech, and then are chosen to represent their school, zone, region, district, and then state. I was runner up last year in the zone level and this year am on my way to the regional competition! While public speaking has never been my strong suit, this experience has helped me to familiarize myself with it as well as be open to critiques from the judges.