Tahanto: My sending school is Tahanto Regional where I spent a majority of my education (6th to 10th grade). It was a really small school so I pretty much knew everyone there. In my school district, there was only 1 elementary school for my town which means I’ve only been to a total of 3 schools in my life. While going to school at Tahanto, I participated in a variety of clubs and teams with my favorites being student council, math team, and unified.
Friends and family: Over the years, I’ve grown to be really close with my older sister Advika. Even though she goes to college in California, we still talk a lot over facetime and reunite almost every break. In addition to my sister, I spend a lot of time with my friends from Tahanto. We’ve spent all of high school together and I look forward to making a lot more memories with them.
Student council: At Tahanto, I was an avid part of my school's student council from middle school all the way to high school. I attended a multitude of both regional and state conferences where I met tons of other stuco kids. While I served on the council, I along with a few of my friends started something called culinary culture day. This was a day where a bunch of kids brought in dishes from their native culture. In 10th grade, I got the opportunity to serve as my school’s public coordinator. This just means that I ran all of our social media and did advertising for events.
Math team: Math has always been my favorite subject because I loved being able to push myself and figure out all the problems. This mindset carried on to 6th grade when I joined the freshmen math team as the only middle schooler on the team at the time. My first WOCOMAL (Worcester County Math League) math meet was a riveting experience to say the least, and from then on, math team quickly grew to become my favorite club.
Special Olympics: At the beginning of 10th grade, I joined the Youth Activation Council to plan events for Special Olympics Massachusetts. Through this program, I got to be a part of seminars and best buddies activities, and even started a branch at Tahanto. We did a unified strength and conditioning unit that lasted 10 weeks and we met every Wednesday. We would workout for about an hour and it was so much fun. Through this program I got to talk to so many people I don’t usually get the chance to. Overall I’d say this was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had. Check out the website here!
STEM Week: Right before October break, as a trip with MAMS, I got to go to Abby Kelley and teach STEM lessons to the kids there. We simulated bird beaks by using different tools to pick up different sorts of items. The second time we went was right after October break. This time, we made spool racers with the kids and had them come up with all sorts of different iterations of the project.
STEM Saturday: Another way that I got community service hours was through STEM Saturday. This was where I went to a local library and taught about making elephant toothpaste to the kids there.
Walk-Fit: I dedicated a couple Saturdays of this year to walk-fit at St Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester. This is a program which spreads awareness of visually impaired people (VIP) the their lifestyle. The first time I went, I was blindfolded and directed by a guide the whole time. The second time I went, I actually got to serve as the guide for a VIP. This taught me a lot about their daily lives, and how how they go about doing tasks that I pftenn take for granted.