Summer Internship: Apollo Hospital

During the summer after the 11th grade, my sister and I decided to intern at Apollo Hospital in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. As I was very interested in pursuing a medical career, the opportunity to work closely with world-class surgeons, examine unique medical cases, and even observe radical surgeries. While I picked up on many things during the month I spent at Apollo Hospital, the one thing that stayed with me was the raw significance of the research that took place at Apollo. Whether it was stem cell research or the search for a cure to cancer, Apollo Hospital was committed to bettering the medical establishment, and I was fortunate enough to see the tangible evidence of this endeavor. I began to wonder about the ethical responsibility doctors had to ensuring the well-being of the human race considering they possessed the knowledge required to help millions of people. In fact, when I asked one of the doctors about her belief about ethical responsibility, she stated, "Of course. It's our duty as medical professionals to aid this country and help the people of this world". My experience at Apollo Hospital marked a turning point in my life at which I realized that medicine was much more than just a noble profession; it was a way of life. Honestly, I couldn't wait to embark upon my own journey into the medical field and begin to own up to my ethical responsibility as a citizen of the world.

Learning objectives achieved:

1. Showing perseverance and commitment
3. Engaged with issues of global importance
4. Consideration of ethical implications

Indus Community School: Equal Quality Education!

In the 11th grade, I was given the extraordinary opportunity to lead a team of students in creating the Indus Community School. This concept is in accordance with the Right To Education Act of India and was a brainchild of the CEO of the Indus Trust. The CEO's idea was to provide IB quality education to the poor at merely $5 per day! To be able to do so would be accomplishing a feat never done before, and would serve to aid the underprivileged and assume ethical responsibility for the basic right to education for all individuals. My team's role was to find an appropriate location for the school and create an entire business plan including the hiring of teachers and staff. I divided the team into different groups, each of which was responsible for one of three functions: curriculum design, fund raising, and marketing. I was responsible for the activities of the three groups, as well as for presenting a comprehensive plan to the CEO. While assuming a critical role in designing an equal opportunity school, I learned a valuable lesson on how a successful business should function. I hope the knowledge I gained through this project will benefit me in college and beyond!

Below: Indus Community School in Bangalore



Learning objectives achieved:

1. Undertaking new challenges
2. Planned and initiated activities
3. Working collaboratively with others
4. Engaged with issues of global importance
5. Consideration of ethical implications

Sports Day: Bleed Blue

I believe the entire purpose of the house system, a traditional feature of schools, particularly in the Commonwealth countries, is to create healthy competition among students. When I first joined Indus International School Hyderabad, I was fascinated by this system; it was like Harry Potter brought to life! Unfortunately, a sorting hat wasn't available to place us in the appropriate house. Instead, as new students, we could choose which house we wanted to join: Hercules, Orion, Pegasus, or Phoenix. I'd belonged to Hercules for three years now, but I hadn't truly felt the house spirit I'd so wanted to experience.

It was during my junior year that Indus decided to hold a Sports Day for the first time. Initially, most of the students in my grade weren't very excited since sports had never been a priority due the academic rigor of the courses we studied. Prior to the day of, we had to compete against each other so that only the best from each event would participate on the final Sports Day. It was a long and tiring process, considering the hot weather and enormous physical effort required from all the participants. It was during this process that I realized my tendency towards impatience, and my hasty nature. I wanted everything to happen quickly, and the undesirable weather coupled with the endless process made me even more irritated than usual! Yet, I was also exposed to my ability to work collaboratively with others and motivate people. While all the students were feeling rather dull and discouraged for the same reasons I was, I was able to get their spirits back up and encourage them to put their best foot forward for Sports Day. This experience was very new and different for me, and I enjoyed undertaking the challenge of motivating students like myself to try their best. The art of persuasion and motivation was a new skill I was developing, and I believe I had a good start!  At last, the day was over and everyone was excited for the coming Sports Day.

On Sports Day, I along with a few other grade 12 Hercules students decided to have the junior Hercules students do some warm-up activities to both physically and mentally prepare them for the challenges lying ahead. We wanted to win the Sports House Cup! Thus, by initiating a series of different activities, we managed to prep the contestants and keep their eye on the prize. During the first half of the Sports Day, Hercules was in third place, doing marginally better than Phoenix. Although the students began to become disheartened, I along with some grade 12 Hercules students talked to them and spoke briefly about the importance or perseverance even in the face of adversity. This seemed to imbibe within the contestants and myself the house spirit Sports Day is meant to celebrate! Throughout the second half of Sports Day, we slowly pulled into second place, over Pegasus, and finally into first place, over Orion! When the results were announced, Hercules House had won!

Learning outcomes achieved:

1. Increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth
2. Undertaking new challenges
3. Planned and initiated activities
4. Working collaboratively with others
5. Showing perseverance and commitment
6. Developing new skills

Bharatanatyam: Dance Till You Drop

"Left, right...left, right...left, right", my dance instructor seemingly chanted every morning since the day I turned five years old. For ten years, I had been pursuing the art of Bharatanatyam, an ancient Indian classical dance form. While I had trained rigorously over the course of this time period, the tenth year in particular was most physically and mentally challenging as it was the year I would perform my "Aarangetram", which would mark the completion of my formal training and which would stand as my on-stage dance debut as a professional dancer.

Although I was quite used to training for two hours daily, preparing for my Aarangetram required a significant more amount of time and effort. While earlier, each dance piece was about three to four minutes long, they were now seven to eight minutes long, which was surprising and exhausting. I spent nearly three to four hours at the dance studio every day, learning new skills and techniques, and attempting to perfect the art form.

The extensive time I spent dancing allowed me to become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses in  Bharatanatyam. I found that while I could learned things quite quickly and was motivated, I lacked the stamina required to do the Aarangetram, which was a continuous four-hour performance. Thus, I spent hours together improving upon my stamina doing various activities including hitting the gym, running every morning, eating healthy, and of course, dancing till I dropped.

Eventually, on the day of my Aarangetram, I was able to complete my on-stage debut with a smile on my face due to the many hours of practice and commitment. If words could describe the experience, I would say it was simply amazing!


Learning outcomes achieved:

1. Increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth
2. Undertaking new challenges
3. Showing perseverance and commitment
4. Developing new skills