August 7, 2025 • 24 mins
Aanya discusses her project, "Sharing the Joys of Cultural Diversity," which focused on fostering understanding and appreciation of cultural differences among children in her community. Aanya highlights two key components of her project: facilitating discussions about cultural identity in local schools and creating a children's book that details her own experiences as an immigrant from India. She reflects on her personal struggles with cultural acceptance and the importance of embracing one’s identity. Join us as Aanya shares her insights and the impact of her work in promoting cultural diversity.
More about Aanya:
Aanya is a sophomore at Princeton University studying Molecular Biology on the pre medicine track. For her Gold Award, Aanya created a cultural education and appreciation initiative in her community to encourage children to develop their global literacy and spark their love for diversity. Aanya published a children’s book, Samosas with Saanvi, to share how she grew to love her cultural identity, capture the joys of cultural diversity, and portray the emotional journey behind acceptance. The mission of her project was to bridge the cultural literacy gap she noticed in her community, allow children to discover their own cultural identities, and foster meaningful community connections. At Princeton, Aanya is involved in The Daily Princetonian Podcast and STEM Research Journalism teams, the Undergraduate Student Government Mental Health and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committees, and the Council on Science & Technology Student Advisory Board. She is very interested in scientific and medical research, working with the IMDEA Materials Institute to learn more about biomaterials and regenerative medicine, as well as Fundação Oswaldo Cruz in virology and immunology. She loves to continue sharing her book and cultural story with family, friends, and community members. In her freetime, you may find her reading the newest fantasy or mystery novel, singing karaoke with her little sister, or playing with her shih tzu poodle Daisy.
https://www.amazon.com/Samosas-Saanvi-Aanya-Kasera/dp/B0CCCKNZW3
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
The Hearts of Gold Podcast is brought to you by the Grow and Share Network, produced by off the Walter Media. Sheryl (00:00):
Welcome to Hearts of Gold. Today we have Aanya with us. Hi Aanya. Aanya
into my own cultural story as an immigrant from India. So I just describe my journey with my culture in accepting who I was and how I connected with others through that story. So those are kind the two big parts of my Gold Award project. Sheryl (01:00):
Clearly, this was a personal connection for you. Can you tell us about what drew you to this topic for your gold award project? Aanya
(02:00):
cultural dance called barium, and I loved it, but it was something that I didn't like to show in front of people who didn't share the same culture as me, just because I didn't. Again, I didn't want them to know about it. I didn't think that it was something that they would accept and something honestly that I didn't accept either because I was scared about being in a place where there were so many different cultures, so many different thoughts andpoints of views, and I didn't think that mine was something that I wanted to share. And throughout time though, I met people that made me feel comfortable with my culture, made me feel comfortable with my cultural food, my cultural dances, and made me com more comfortable with myself And throughout that journey where I started to, I. Except more of my culture and accept my roots. I started to understand how important it was to just embrace our cultures.
(03:00):
And I also noticed that this is a really big problem with so many different people, whether it's kids or adults, and I just wanted to. Center My goal award project on this idea of cultural diversity and accepting where you come from, what your background is. So I focused my project specifically on children and my community. So I noticed, first of all, I have a little sister and I saw that she went through a lot of the same struggles thatI did. She also was scared to. Eat her Indian food in front of her friends or bring people home to play at her house just because she didn't want other people just to know that part of her. And this is a problem with so many different students. So I decided to center my Golden Award project based on all of this. It was something that was really important to me and I wanted to help improve it in my community, which was how this all came
to be. And the second part was your book. Sheryl (04:00):
Can you tell us about your book that you created? Aanya
(05:00):
I, it was called sbi, and it's basically a story about this girl who moved to Wisconsin from India, which is a state that I lived in, and I basically shared. Different anecdotes with, for example, the fluid example that I talked about, or a cultural dress or just. Telling people where I was from, that I was from India, and I showed the struggles that Sandy went through and how she came to meet people that also had so manydifferent cultural differences. And she noticed that diversity is with everyone. That everyone has their own unique cultures and their own unique. Thoughts and ways of living. So that was kind of a journey that I hoped that reflected my own story, that other people could see some part of their own journey in it and know that they aren't alone. Sheryl: Can you share a part of your outreach when you were sharing your book and
some of the other activities that you did and how the audience reacted and maybe some of that feedback, that part of it? Aanya (06:00):
The outreach was actually one of my biggest challenges in my award just because. Writing a book is really difficult process. Something that I didn't fully think about when I was planning my project. I think from the beginning to the outreach part of making a book, I think there were so many different challenges. First of all. Writing the book itself, finding a way to get illustrations, publishing it, and then the outreach part to which the project only reads full impact. If I can actually get students to be able to read it, be able to access it. So I would definitely say that. It was, it was difficult at first, especially because I didn't really know the right ways to promote it or whether I could do social media, whether I should go in my community and find a way to promote it, and I would say. What
(07:00):
helped me here was making sure that I didn't try to do it all alone. That I knew that I had my community support. For example, my communities public library, they were so helpful in helping me with the outreach of the book. They planned an event where. I could share my book with different community members, students, their parents, and I think that was something that helped me feel more confident about sharing my book and reading it in public. Especially because even though I've growna lot from when I first started, I. When I first came to America, I think that there's still part of me that is a little scared at times to share my culture, to share that vulnerable part of me. So I think that really, that opportunity really helped me gain more confidence to start sharing that story with my community. And then also my other part of the project that I mentioned when I went to the. School in my area to share with students. I think that was also a really great way to
(08:00):
get outreach for the book and make sure that people were able to access it and hear the story. I think that the students there really were resonating with my story and they also were able to discuss it with their peers and see how they could relate or see their own struggles in the story. So I think those were some of the different ways that I helped. Get more outreach through my book. And I really think that community support was so important and reallyhelped get that story across. And even now two years after the project is done, I'm still so happy with how my family, my friends, and different parts of the community still really appreciate my book and my story and still want to share it and read it. And I think that it's so important that I'm not on this journey alone and that I can help inspire others to also share their own stories and see themselves or see a part of themselves in my own. Sheryl:
Who was on your team and how did they help you? Aanya (09:00):
The biggest supporter that I had on my team was my project advisor. Miss Emily burnt. She was the teacher at the school who really helped me get the plan in action, and I haven't talked too much yet about that other part of my goal award project, which is where I went to the school to help students communicate more with each other about these issues, help learn more about other cultures, help learn more about their own culture, and. She was really a really big support for that and I can talk more about how she helped me with everything. So basically I worked with the sixth grade class and they had this world studies class and I helped me and Ms. Burnt, we. Found a way to integrate my ideas into their curriculum, which was mainly a cultural research project, cultural discussions, both small
(10:00):
group and individual. So I went into all these different classes and first I. Helped lead different presentations about different cultures about researching cultures, about why it's so important to do all this. And then that helps spark whole class discussion. And also another part of it was individual discussion where I met with students individually and I just ask them to talk more about maybe their cultural story, if they'recomfortable or what, why they think culture is important. So. I led these discussions and then I also had this part of the project, which helped them actually go on a research project and work with their peers to research a specific culture and then share it with the rest of the class. And in this way they, they can also meet the schools requirements for the research part of, of their curriculum as well as learn more about different
(11:00):
cultures up through their own research as well as hearing it from other students. So that was basically what that project was. All that part of the project was all about. And then in the end, I had individual discussions again where I could kind of see the growth in the mindset. So I really thought that I could see a difference in the way that they thought about culture. I know, for example, some things that I still remember to this day that students have toldme are, for example, when a student told me that one of her friends wears a hija to school every day. And first of all, and before she didn't really know what that meant and why she wore that. But then now she through research, through classroom discussions with her peers, she understands more about the cultural significance of a hijab and why her friend wears that, and she was able to understand her culture more. I remember another thing that a student told me
(12:00):
was that she didn't know about her culture before, and she didn't really care about knowing it about it, but then after she learned more about the importance and she was able to research more into it, she now wants to go ask her parents more questions about our culture, to learn more about her ancestors and her background. And I just think that is so important and it was something that made me really happy and really proud of how all the students. Were impacted by theproject of all of this wouldn't have been possible without Ms. Burnt, who really was so eager to help me bring my ideas into the project. So she definitely was my number one supporter. Otherwise. As I mentioned before, my community was set as a library, the school and my Girl Scout team, all of them helped so much in the project, especially with the book part of it. Another thing that really helped with the outreach, for example, was another Girl Scout troupe who invited me
(13:00):
to read my book, the. To the Girl Scouts, which was also really important, something that I really enjoyed, especially because these Girl Scouts may one day go on to have their own gold award or do something else with Girl Scouts that can have an impact on their community. And I think that was both important in helping them understand the importance of cultural diversity, but also help them maybe feel inspired to do it. Their own gold award or do something that they're passionateabout in the future as well to help their community. Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it? Aanya: As I mentioned before, the outreach part of it was very difficult, but I could talk more about the publishing process and coming up with the ideas, which is also super difficult. Well, it was a picture book, so it had the words, it had the illustrations, the cover page, and then trying to figure out a way to make sure everything got put
(14:00):
together. I know that at one point when I finally got all the position on the page, I was really excited to put on Amazon, but then all the formatting came completely messed up, and then I was. Googling for hours and how to fix it. I didn't know what was happening. I thought that it all looked great on Canva, but it wasn't. So I was just really worried then, especially because it was nearing the end of the publishing process and then this big challenge came and I wasn't sure completelyhow to fix it. But then in the end, it all worked out perfectly. I was able to figure out how to format it correctly, and it might seem like a little thing just putting the words in the correct spot on the page, but it was something that it, it was a small thing that got me completely worried at the, at the last minute. So I think that there were diff, there were so many different challenges that came up when publishing the book, and it was something that taught me the importance of
(15:00):
resilience and. To give up just because some small thing didn't work out because there's always a solution to it, even though it's not what I initially thought. In the end it did work out. Now it, I think the book published beautifully. I think the pictures reflect the words really nicely, and the students also really loved it. So I definitely think that the challenges with publishing a book for the first time were definitely worth it. And something that I wouldlove to do again. Sheryl: We will have a link in the show notes if they wanna find your book on Amazon. Do you have a special memory from your project you'd like to share? Aanya: I would definitely say something that. Is really memorable for me. It is when I actually saw the students research projects at the end of the curriculum where after weeks of researching whether I noticed some cultures that they research were the French culture, Algerian culture, the Indian
(16:00):
culture, Chinese culture. I know there were various different cultures that they all researched in small groups and. I think that. Actually seeing the students present them at the end, where it was really meaningful to me just because it was another way to see how the project really impacted the students. It was really impressive. All the work that they did, all the. Collaboration they had, especially as young kids. They were able to work together, figure out away to organize this entire presentation from the research part of it. Also, to dividing up the speaking parts or figuring out ways to effectively communicate. Sheryl: What other Girl Scout memories do you have to share? Aanya: When me and my troop went out to a yurt in a campsite, I remember it was my first time in this specific troop just because I had moved, and it was a great way for me to meet new Girl Scouts and make new friends. We, of course, did s'mores
(17:00):
on the campfire just because there's no camping, in my opinion. Without s'mores, we also were able to cook for each other. I was able to make a sandwich. With different vegetables and like my homemade sauce, and that was something that was really exciting for me, not also eating all the other different treats that the other girl Scouts had made. Also just staying in the yurt for overnight and bonding with the girls, telling spookystories or watching a movie. It was just one night, but it was something that. That's so much. We had so much fun together and it was a great way to make new friends. Sheryl: I also understand that you have been involved in, is it Hoka? Aanya: Hosa. Sheryl: Hosa. Can you tell us what hosa, what HOSA is? Aanya: It's a future health professional organization. Basically, we're all students, high schoolers, college students. We all. Have this
(18:00):
community where we can gain more leadership skills, find our interest in the healthcare professions. I know for me, I learned more about, for example, veterinary science or pediatrics or surgery, and I know that I was able to learn so much about different healthcare professions, learn more about what I was specifically interested in, and I think the most. Important part was finding a community through HOSA and developing my leadership skills because before starting hosa, I was, Iwas shy. I didn't really like to public speak as much, but joining HOSA really helped me find that community of people who both had similar interests in me, especially career wise, but also where. So different from me in other ways, such as what school they came from, what part of Wisconsin they were in, what part of the United States or the world that they were in, and especially going to different conferences we had, for example, the state leadership conference or internationals,
(19:00):
and just meeting so many different people with different interests in the healthcare field or interest in leadership was something that really helped me find that community. And it also inspired me to really pursue a career in medicine. Now that I'm in college, I'm a on the pre-med track, and I know that HOSA definitely shaped my interest in pursuing medicine, and even now I see so many different people in college who were in HOSA in high school. It's just a reallyimportant community that so many different people participate in. It was an experience that shaped my leadership skills and also made a lifelong community. Sheryl: So what are you seeing for your future? Aanya: I would say right now I am looking into medicine. After I graduate college, I would like to go to medical school and I'm still a little unsure about the specific specialty right now. But hopefully throughout the next three years in college, I'll be able to
(20:00):
explore more and see what I'm interested in and then. I know outside of my career interests, I definitely do want to start publishing more books again, maybe experiment with different types of books, do more children's books, as well as maybe a novel. And part of the reason that I did a book for my Gold award was because I was generally interested in publishing and being an author, and I would like to share more of my story or even. Different fictional stories,especially because I love reading them and I would like to create them as well. So I know that I would like to publish for fun and I love creative writing, so hopefully that's something that I can do more in the future. And, and other than that, I would definitely love to travel the world. So far I've been to India, of course, 'cause that's where I'm from. And then I've been to France, Switzerland. Right now I'm in Brazil for a college related internship.
(21:00):
So that's really fun to be able to travel. I know I went, I went to Thailand and Indonesia and I think it's just so fun to go to so many different places, especially because culture is something that is really important to me and traveling is a great way to see all these different cultures and actually be able to be immersed in them and learn more about the specific culture that you're visiting. So I think that I love to travel and I would con love to continue doingthat as well in my future. Sheryl: What else would you like to share with the audience? Aanya: A little bit of encouragement to any future Girl Scouts or anyone who's interested in making an impact on their community, doing something that they're passionate about to help other people. And I would say the biggest thing for me is when I started my Gold award, I was actually really scared. I didn't think that it was possible or that I was shooting too high because.
(22:00):
First of all, publishing a book was something that I've never done before, so I was scared for that aspect of it. As well as going and talking to many different students and kids in my community. I don't I, I didn't know whether I had that confidence or that public speaking ability to be able to do that, especially with something that was a little bit scared, scare some, especially with something that was a little bit scary for me to share with my cultural identity and my story. I would say that even if it seemslike a really big goal or something that might not quite seem possible at the start, I would say not to shy away from it, not to give up on that idea entirely, because while your project might not shape out in exactly the way. That you might expect it to. It will definitely shape out inside in a way that is meaningful to you and is meaningful to the rest of your community. Whatever you're passionate about. For me it was culture, but whether that be something in sports or the environment or education or healthcare, or
(23:00):
any other area of your interest, I would say that as long as you're passionate about it, as long as something that's meaningful to you, something that might resonate with your own personal experiences. I would say go for it, even though it might seem difficult at the start. Figure out ways to involve other members of your community. Make sure that you don't think that you're in this all alone. There are definitely peoplewho are, who are passionate about the same issue that you are or might resonate with the same goals that you have and whatever. You're passionate about whatever your project is, but however hard it might seem. I believe in you and I hope that you continue to pursue what you're passionate about and it's anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and are passionate about it. Sheryl: Well, thanks for joining
Welcome to Hearts of Gold. Today we have Aanya with us. Hi Aanya. Aanya
into my own cultural story as an immigrant from India. So I just describe my journey with my culture in accepting who I was and how I connected with others through that story. So those are kind the two big parts of my Gold Award project. Sheryl (01:00):
Clearly, this was a personal connection for you. Can you tell us about what drew you to this topic for your gold award project? Aanya
(02:00):
cultural dance called barium, and I loved it, but it was something that I didn't like to show in front of people who didn't share the same culture as me, just because I didn't. Again, I didn't want them to know about it. I didn't think that it was something that they would accept and something honestly that I didn't accept either because I was scared about being in a place where there were so many different cultures, so many different thoughts andpoints of views, and I didn't think that mine was something that I wanted to share. And throughout time though, I met people that made me feel comfortable with my culture, made me feel comfortable with my cultural food, my cultural dances, and made me com more comfortable with myself And throughout that journey where I started to, I. Except more of my culture and accept my roots. I started to understand how important it was to just embrace our cultures.
(03:00):
And I also noticed that this is a really big problem with so many different people, whether it's kids or adults, and I just wanted to. Center My goal award project on this idea of cultural diversity and accepting where you come from, what your background is. So I focused my project specifically on children and my community. So I noticed, first of all, I have a little sister and I saw that she went through a lot of the same struggles thatI did. She also was scared to. Eat her Indian food in front of her friends or bring people home to play at her house just because she didn't want other people just to know that part of her. And this is a problem with so many different students. So I decided to center my Golden Award project based on all of this. It was something that was really important to me and I wanted to help improve it in my community, which was how this all came
to be. And the second part was your book. Sheryl (04:00):
Can you tell us about your book that you created? Aanya
(05:00):
I, it was called sbi, and it's basically a story about this girl who moved to Wisconsin from India, which is a state that I lived in, and I basically shared. Different anecdotes with, for example, the fluid example that I talked about, or a cultural dress or just. Telling people where I was from, that I was from India, and I showed the struggles that Sandy went through and how she came to meet people that also had so manydifferent cultural differences. And she noticed that diversity is with everyone. That everyone has their own unique cultures and their own unique. Thoughts and ways of living. So that was kind of a journey that I hoped that reflected my own story, that other people could see some part of their own journey in it and know that they aren't alone. Sheryl: Can you share a part of your outreach when you were sharing your book and
some of the other activities that you did and how the audience reacted and maybe some of that feedback, that part of it? Aanya (06:00):
The outreach was actually one of my biggest challenges in my award just because. Writing a book is really difficult process. Something that I didn't fully think about when I was planning my project. I think from the beginning to the outreach part of making a book, I think there were so many different challenges. First of all. Writing the book itself, finding a way to get illustrations, publishing it, and then the outreach part to which the project only reads full impact. If I can actually get students to be able to read it, be able to access it. So I would definitely say that. It was, it was difficult at first, especially because I didn't really know the right ways to promote it or whether I could do social media, whether I should go in my community and find a way to promote it, and I would say. What
(07:00):
helped me here was making sure that I didn't try to do it all alone. That I knew that I had my community support. For example, my communities public library, they were so helpful in helping me with the outreach of the book. They planned an event where. I could share my book with different community members, students, their parents, and I think that was something that helped me feel more confident about sharing my book and reading it in public. Especially because even though I've growna lot from when I first started, I. When I first came to America, I think that there's still part of me that is a little scared at times to share my culture, to share that vulnerable part of me. So I think that really, that opportunity really helped me gain more confidence to start sharing that story with my community. And then also my other part of the project that I mentioned when I went to the. School in my area to share with students. I think that was also a really great way to
(08:00):
get outreach for the book and make sure that people were able to access it and hear the story. I think that the students there really were resonating with my story and they also were able to discuss it with their peers and see how they could relate or see their own struggles in the story. So I think those were some of the different ways that I helped. Get more outreach through my book. And I really think that community support was so important and reallyhelped get that story across. And even now two years after the project is done, I'm still so happy with how my family, my friends, and different parts of the community still really appreciate my book and my story and still want to share it and read it. And I think that it's so important that I'm not on this journey alone and that I can help inspire others to also share their own stories and see themselves or see a part of themselves in my own. Sheryl:
Who was on your team and how did they help you? Aanya (09:00):
The biggest supporter that I had on my team was my project advisor. Miss Emily burnt. She was the teacher at the school who really helped me get the plan in action, and I haven't talked too much yet about that other part of my goal award project, which is where I went to the school to help students communicate more with each other about these issues, help learn more about other cultures, help learn more about their own culture, and. She was really a really big support for that and I can talk more about how she helped me with everything. So basically I worked with the sixth grade class and they had this world studies class and I helped me and Ms. Burnt, we. Found a way to integrate my ideas into their curriculum, which was mainly a cultural research project, cultural discussions, both small
(10:00):
group and individual. So I went into all these different classes and first I. Helped lead different presentations about different cultures about researching cultures, about why it's so important to do all this. And then that helps spark whole class discussion. And also another part of it was individual discussion where I met with students individually and I just ask them to talk more about maybe their cultural story, if they'recomfortable or what, why they think culture is important. So. I led these discussions and then I also had this part of the project, which helped them actually go on a research project and work with their peers to research a specific culture and then share it with the rest of the class. And in this way they, they can also meet the schools requirements for the research part of, of their curriculum as well as learn more about different
(11:00):
cultures up through their own research as well as hearing it from other students. So that was basically what that project was. All that part of the project was all about. And then in the end, I had individual discussions again where I could kind of see the growth in the mindset. So I really thought that I could see a difference in the way that they thought about culture. I know, for example, some things that I still remember to this day that students have toldme are, for example, when a student told me that one of her friends wears a hija to school every day. And first of all, and before she didn't really know what that meant and why she wore that. But then now she through research, through classroom discussions with her peers, she understands more about the cultural significance of a hijab and why her friend wears that, and she was able to understand her culture more. I remember another thing that a student told me
(12:00):
was that she didn't know about her culture before, and she didn't really care about knowing it about it, but then after she learned more about the importance and she was able to research more into it, she now wants to go ask her parents more questions about our culture, to learn more about her ancestors and her background. And I just think that is so important and it was something that made me really happy and really proud of how all the students. Were impacted by theproject of all of this wouldn't have been possible without Ms. Burnt, who really was so eager to help me bring my ideas into the project. So she definitely was my number one supporter. Otherwise. As I mentioned before, my community was set as a library, the school and my Girl Scout team, all of them helped so much in the project, especially with the book part of it. Another thing that really helped with the outreach, for example, was another Girl Scout troupe who invited me
(13:00):
to read my book, the. To the Girl Scouts, which was also really important, something that I really enjoyed, especially because these Girl Scouts may one day go on to have their own gold award or do something else with Girl Scouts that can have an impact on their community. And I think that was both important in helping them understand the importance of cultural diversity, but also help them maybe feel inspired to do it. Their own gold award or do something that they're passionateabout in the future as well to help their community. Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it? Aanya: As I mentioned before, the outreach part of it was very difficult, but I could talk more about the publishing process and coming up with the ideas, which is also super difficult. Well, it was a picture book, so it had the words, it had the illustrations, the cover page, and then trying to figure out a way to make sure everything got put
(14:00):
together. I know that at one point when I finally got all the position on the page, I was really excited to put on Amazon, but then all the formatting came completely messed up, and then I was. Googling for hours and how to fix it. I didn't know what was happening. I thought that it all looked great on Canva, but it wasn't. So I was just really worried then, especially because it was nearing the end of the publishing process and then this big challenge came and I wasn't sure completelyhow to fix it. But then in the end, it all worked out perfectly. I was able to figure out how to format it correctly, and it might seem like a little thing just putting the words in the correct spot on the page, but it was something that it, it was a small thing that got me completely worried at the, at the last minute. So I think that there were diff, there were so many different challenges that came up when publishing the book, and it was something that taught me the importance of
(15:00):
resilience and. To give up just because some small thing didn't work out because there's always a solution to it, even though it's not what I initially thought. In the end it did work out. Now it, I think the book published beautifully. I think the pictures reflect the words really nicely, and the students also really loved it. So I definitely think that the challenges with publishing a book for the first time were definitely worth it. And something that I wouldlove to do again. Sheryl: We will have a link in the show notes if they wanna find your book on Amazon. Do you have a special memory from your project you'd like to share? Aanya: I would definitely say something that. Is really memorable for me. It is when I actually saw the students research projects at the end of the curriculum where after weeks of researching whether I noticed some cultures that they research were the French culture, Algerian culture, the Indian
(16:00):
culture, Chinese culture. I know there were various different cultures that they all researched in small groups and. I think that. Actually seeing the students present them at the end, where it was really meaningful to me just because it was another way to see how the project really impacted the students. It was really impressive. All the work that they did, all the. Collaboration they had, especially as young kids. They were able to work together, figure out away to organize this entire presentation from the research part of it. Also, to dividing up the speaking parts or figuring out ways to effectively communicate. Sheryl: What other Girl Scout memories do you have to share? Aanya: When me and my troop went out to a yurt in a campsite, I remember it was my first time in this specific troop just because I had moved, and it was a great way for me to meet new Girl Scouts and make new friends. We, of course, did s'mores
(17:00):
on the campfire just because there's no camping, in my opinion. Without s'mores, we also were able to cook for each other. I was able to make a sandwich. With different vegetables and like my homemade sauce, and that was something that was really exciting for me, not also eating all the other different treats that the other girl Scouts had made. Also just staying in the yurt for overnight and bonding with the girls, telling spookystories or watching a movie. It was just one night, but it was something that. That's so much. We had so much fun together and it was a great way to make new friends. Sheryl: I also understand that you have been involved in, is it Hoka? Aanya: Hosa. Sheryl: Hosa. Can you tell us what hosa, what HOSA is? Aanya: It's a future health professional organization. Basically, we're all students, high schoolers, college students. We all. Have this
(18:00):
community where we can gain more leadership skills, find our interest in the healthcare professions. I know for me, I learned more about, for example, veterinary science or pediatrics or surgery, and I know that I was able to learn so much about different healthcare professions, learn more about what I was specifically interested in, and I think the most. Important part was finding a community through HOSA and developing my leadership skills because before starting hosa, I was, Iwas shy. I didn't really like to public speak as much, but joining HOSA really helped me find that community of people who both had similar interests in me, especially career wise, but also where. So different from me in other ways, such as what school they came from, what part of Wisconsin they were in, what part of the United States or the world that they were in, and especially going to different conferences we had, for example, the state leadership conference or internationals,
(19:00):
and just meeting so many different people with different interests in the healthcare field or interest in leadership was something that really helped me find that community. And it also inspired me to really pursue a career in medicine. Now that I'm in college, I'm a on the pre-med track, and I know that HOSA definitely shaped my interest in pursuing medicine, and even now I see so many different people in college who were in HOSA in high school. It's just a reallyimportant community that so many different people participate in. It was an experience that shaped my leadership skills and also made a lifelong community. Sheryl: So what are you seeing for your future? Aanya: I would say right now I am looking into medicine. After I graduate college, I would like to go to medical school and I'm still a little unsure about the specific specialty right now. But hopefully throughout the next three years in college, I'll be able to
(20:00):
explore more and see what I'm interested in and then. I know outside of my career interests, I definitely do want to start publishing more books again, maybe experiment with different types of books, do more children's books, as well as maybe a novel. And part of the reason that I did a book for my Gold award was because I was generally interested in publishing and being an author, and I would like to share more of my story or even. Different fictional stories,especially because I love reading them and I would like to create them as well. So I know that I would like to publish for fun and I love creative writing, so hopefully that's something that I can do more in the future. And, and other than that, I would definitely love to travel the world. So far I've been to India, of course, 'cause that's where I'm from. And then I've been to France, Switzerland. Right now I'm in Brazil for a college related internship.
(21:00):
So that's really fun to be able to travel. I know I went, I went to Thailand and Indonesia and I think it's just so fun to go to so many different places, especially because culture is something that is really important to me and traveling is a great way to see all these different cultures and actually be able to be immersed in them and learn more about the specific culture that you're visiting. So I think that I love to travel and I would con love to continue doingthat as well in my future. Sheryl: What else would you like to share with the audience? Aanya: A little bit of encouragement to any future Girl Scouts or anyone who's interested in making an impact on their community, doing something that they're passionate about to help other people. And I would say the biggest thing for me is when I started my Gold award, I was actually really scared. I didn't think that it was possible or that I was shooting too high because.
(22:00):
First of all, publishing a book was something that I've never done before, so I was scared for that aspect of it. As well as going and talking to many different students and kids in my community. I don't I, I didn't know whether I had that confidence or that public speaking ability to be able to do that, especially with something that was a little bit scared, scare some, especially with something that was a little bit scary for me to share with my cultural identity and my story. I would say that even if it seemslike a really big goal or something that might not quite seem possible at the start, I would say not to shy away from it, not to give up on that idea entirely, because while your project might not shape out in exactly the way. That you might expect it to. It will definitely shape out inside in a way that is meaningful to you and is meaningful to the rest of your community. Whatever you're passionate about. For me it was culture, but whether that be something in sports or the environment or education or healthcare, or
(23:00):
any other area of your interest, I would say that as long as you're passionate about it, as long as something that's meaningful to you, something that might resonate with your own personal experiences. I would say go for it, even though it might seem difficult at the start. Figure out ways to involve other members of your community. Make sure that you don't think that you're in this all alone. There are definitely peoplewho are, who are passionate about the same issue that you are or might resonate with the same goals that you have and whatever. You're passionate about whatever your project is, but however hard it might seem. I believe in you and I hope that you continue to pursue what you're passionate about and it's anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and are passionate about it. Sheryl: Well, thanks for joining
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