Blogs
Check out some of the blogs I wrote!
The Advice I'd Give My 30-Year-Old Self
Dear 30 year old self, I hoped we reached our goals, made many wonderful memories, and had many eye-opening experiences! I hope we have achieved a lot and feel satisfied and happy in our life. Some advice I have for you is to remain determined and keep persevering no matter what. Also, make sure to make time for yourself and find new passions.
Throughout life, I know that it is hard to find motives to keep going and that you have probably faced many difficult obstacles. It’s totally alright to feel exhausted and down sometimes. However, that does not mean you should stress and quit reaching whatever goal you have! You should keep striving to reach your dreams no matter how far they seem, because if you work hard, it will be at the palm of your hand. Remember when you felt hopeless because of your first PSAT? Yet, over the summer you practiced many times and sought out as many resources to help you get a better score on the SAT. Don’t forget the pride and determination that you felt when reaching your goals. Do your research and find the right resources that will help you. Just stay motivated and push through the hardest set backs. Try making a plan for the overall goal and set up small steps at a time to reach each and every one of your dreams. Good things take time, so don’t rush yourself to your goals.
Additionally, don’t get too caught up in trying to always make progress and always do something productive. A successful and happy life means a balance between building something for yourself and taking breaks. Take time to enjoy things you love and make time for people who love and support you. I hope we are still caring and thoughtful, and don’t be afraid to show your love to its fullest extent! People who love you won’t think it's too much! In the process of loving others, don’t forget to love yourself. Whether it’s rekindling old passions, or exploring new ones, find something that is meaningful to you and makes you happy. I hope we are still into sketching and graphic design and have read a collection of books. I also hope that we have gotten better at crochet and learned things like pottery and animation, stuff I have always wanted to try but never knew where to start. However, loving yourself doesn’t have to be some elaborate new art project, it can even just be relaxing. It could mean a spa day or just an evening at home. I bet we still love to binge watch comfort TV shows or Marvel movies! These are just some ideas of what to do beyond just work. So I hope we have maintained our family and friendships and met some new, wonderful people along our way, and I hope we learn new things that interest us or simply just bring us relaxation.
Overall, I hope we have a successful and happy life for ourselves, filled with people and things we love. I hope my advice helps you and brings back some old memories.
Love,
16 year old Ashritha
Beyond the Classroom: My Journey of Contribution and Discovery
As a high school student, there are more aspects of being an impactful and promising person to the world than just academics. It also means showing personal responsibility and reliability, determination to pursue interests, and passion to help the community. Throughout my own high school career, I was able to show these characteristics through my job, clubs and elective classes, and volunteering.
Since ninth-grade, I have worked as a tutor at Kumon. My role is to help younger kids grasp a foundation for future academic skills in math and reading. Being at an important stage of development, that requires me to pay attention to the kids at my table, even though a lot of my co-workers are my friends. I do this because I am responsible for teaching these kids, and want to make sure they succeed on these skills. Additionally, showing this focus towards the kids demonstrates to our director in charge of the place that I am a reliable person. As many know, little kids can be energetic and get off task really easily. By putting in all my effort to teach these kids, I show that I am a reliable person and can handle difficult situations in a kind and thoughtful manner.
Another aspect I value is showing determination, especially in topics that I value and enjoy. For example, I have always loved art, and was able to show a continuity in my passion throughout high school. In ninth grade, I participated in the Art Club, and got to interact and explore with many different peer artists and different styles. I also showed my dedication to the club by attending as many meetings as I could. Additionally, I took Graphic Design (major) as an elective in tenth grade and plan to continue it throughout eleventh and even as an AP in twelfth grade. With this class, I hope to learn art skills and different kinds of projects that can be seen and utilized in the real world. This displays my enthusiasm and willingness to grow my skill set in art, one of my passions.
Lastly, I display my desire to help the community through my volunteer work. I have volunteered for many different causes, like the library, school events, or our local Diwali food drive. At the library, I helped set up and assisted activities for younger kids, especially during the holiday season, where us volunteers helped spread the joy and love around. When our school hosted the Vex Robotics competition, I helped reset the field and guided the other teams to where they needed to be, keeping things going smoothly, for others to follow their passions. Lastly, for the Diwali food drive, I helped spread the word and load donations for the food pantry, to celebrate giving. All of these experiences made me enjoy service hours for the community, and recognize important values that come from helping others.
In conclusion, I value personal responsibility and reliability, determination to pursue interests, and the passion to help the community. I display these character traits throughout my high school career specifically, through my job, clubs, and volunteer work.