Category Young Achievers

AN INTERVIEW OF YOUNG ACHIEVER PRIYANKHA KAMALAKANNAN (AUTHOR OF THE BOOKS “THE POSITIVE POETRY CLOSET’ AND “FANTASIA ADVENTURES”)

This young author of the books “The Positive Poetry Closet’ and “Fantasia Adventures” used the lockdown to hone her writing skills. She’s also been a TEDx speaker. Priyankha Kamalakannan, living in Germany. She speaks about her journey.

How did your journey as an author start?

Writing started as a skill at school. One day, I randomly wrote a short story called The Bucket List Detectives’. My parents printed it as small booklets on my eighth birthday, and gave them as return gifts to guests. Everyone loved the story, and I was motivated by the appreciation I received. So, I wrote another story called ‘Liana’s Adventures In Wonderland. During the lockdown, I re-read my previous works and realised I could write them in a much better way. So I rewrote ‘Liana’s Adventures In Wonderland’, which turned into a newly sculpted tale very different from the original story. Rewriting this story resulted in my first book, ‘Fantasia Adventures.

Tell us about ‘Fantasia Adventures’ and ‘The Positive Poetry Closet?

‘Fantasia Adventures’ is a fantasy book, where the main character is a girl called Lizzy who lives on an English farm and is very special to her grandmother. One night, when she thinks about her grandma, she magically lands in a place called Fantasia, a magical land where she meets a lot of different people. She learns about an evil queen who wants to destroy all the good. She, hence, decides to go on a mission to stop the evil queen and save Fantasia and its people. This is the plot of the story, and I sought help from my friend and added illustrations to make the book more interesting for readers.

My second book is The Positive Poetry Closet. I had numerous poems written and piled up, so I thought of compiling them into a book. I gave the book a fun title and published it.

How was your experience as a TEDx speaker?

When I was in Class III, my teachers used to play TED Talks on the smart board. When I was in Class IV, my school got a licence to conduct a TEDx speech, and my teacher allowed us to participate in it. Only a couple of people were selected, and I was surprised and happy that I was one of them. We had mentors and teachers who supported us, and to make it more impactful, we took instances from real-life for our talks. Not having notes and memorising the speech I wrote was what was keeping me from being distracted. The whole experience was thrilling.

How do you manage school and other work?

My writing started over the lockdown period, so most of my school work was done online during class. Our teachers didn’t give us much work due to which there was a lot of leisure time, which I utilised for writing my books. Our school has a system where they don’t give homework till Class VI, which made it simpler for me. Apart from the time I spend on my school work and writing. I take part in extra-curricular activities too. I also started my YouTube channel during this lockdown, where I shared videos of me spending time with my friends, doing crafts, experiments, baking, etc.

If something has to be changed in society, what would it be?

Irrespective of all the work we should accomplish, we must prioritise what we want to do and what we believe is important to us. It is also important that we spend quality time on the things we are passionate about, as it is important to share our abilities with everyone. In society, I wish to change the pivotal situation of how people are not being able to pursue their dreams and passion due to age boundaries. I would like to break these boundaries that are an obstacle to people from reaching their full potential. Many people of young and old age have been proving that age is just a number and that age shouldn’t be used to question one’s ability.

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AN INTERVIEW OF YOUNG ACHIEVER VARUN ARORA – FOUNDER AND CEO OF VISARD.ORG

This Class XII student is the founder and CEO of Visard.org, a youth-run, not-for-profit that aims to empower small businesses through technology. Varun Arora speaks about his journey.

What fascinated you to learn about Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

When I was a kid, I was always engrossed in building new things and using my imagination to innovate. I first heard about Al when Intel conducted the Al for Youth programme and got selected for it. I did not have any idea about it, but decided to give it a try and I loved it. I was also intrigued, and so decided to pursue Al on a deeper level.

How was your experience at the Al for Youth programme?

It was a four-month-long programme, and at the end, we were asked to build a project that would be helpful to society in some way and contribute to the welfare of people. Recently, I had the opportunity to present my project to the CEO of Intel, and it was a phenomenal experience! Overall, the programme was beneficial and I consider it the turning point in my journey.

What was your project about?

An Al reading assistant, I made it for kids in the four to eight age group. It aims to develop essential skills in children without any increase in screentime.

You run an organisation called Visard.org.

Our organisation’s main aim is to empower small businesses through technology. We do this through a range of initiatives, one of them being providing solutions such as creating websites for small business owners at rates lower than what many agencies charge. Apart from this, we have various other initiatives that cover areas such as support for artisans, educating/training business owners on tech tools, etc. We have impacted over 100 businesses and have helped small businesses save about Rs. 1 lakh. Additionally, the team size too has grown to over 25. The organisation is also backed by advisors who are alumni of reputed institutions such as Stanford, MIT, NYU, Microsoft, etc.

How do you manage your time between school and your organisation?

Due to the pandemic, my classes have been held online. It was a blessing in disguise because I was able to focus on my project and build my organisation. Once the physical classes start, the actual challenge will begin. But with proper time management and organisational skills, I think I will be able to balance everything.

When we talk about Al, the most pressing question is can humans be replaced by Al.

My answer would be a no. 1 would like to stress the fact that Al is just a displacement and not a replacement. I do agree that in some aspects Al does much better than us humans. We need to understand and accept the fact that it’s going to replace humans in some jobs. But then again, certain jobs such as nursing can never be replaced by computers. For job security in the competitive world, we need to be aware of the latest technology. We need to realise that every day, we are one step closer to the point where humans and robots will coexist, and that this evolution will lead to our co-dependency.

What are your hobbies and interests?

I started cycling recently. With the pandemic locking us inside our homes, there hasn’t been much activity on the road, so why not give cycling a go? I also collect ancient coins and currencies. Other than that, I have been quite busy with school and Visard.

What are your plans for the future? And what would you like to change in society?

My end goal is to be an entrepreneur. I realise that often when we start earning, we stop learning. But it shouldn’t be so, because education gives wisdom too. Also, it is very important to apply what you learn in real life. For example, there is no use in learning to code if you never get to actually code. So the one thing I would like to change in society is the architecture of the Indian education system, which currently focusses more on theoretical concepts than practical application.

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AN INTERVIEW OF YOUNG ACHIEVER GOURAV KHUNGER- ANDROID APP DEVELOPER

Meet Gourav Khunger a 16-year-old Android app developer. He runs genicsblog.com an open source platform for developers to share technical knowledge. He speaks about his journey .

What fascinates you about technology?

The ability to turn my imagination into reality. Having a solid technical background helped me build software tools and apps that didn’t exist. In this modern world, having basic tech skills is a must.

Tell us about your journey of finding your passion.

Until Class VI, I had almost no involvement in extracurricular activities. One day my father showed me an advertisement for an Indian digital payment company. and pointed out the things they are doing with their app. This kindled my curiosity to learn about the interface of their app and about the tools used to build websites. This, combined with the basic web development lessons in Class VI, got me to explore different kinds of technology using the computer we had at home. I used the Internet for the first time to learn about website development. I set up my first website by leaming about coding from an educational website. This was about five years ago. But I soon realised web development wasn’t something I wanted to pursue as a career. I wanted to do programming languages such as Java, Kotlin, Ruby, etc. So in Class VIII, I got into app development, and since then I have worked using many coding languages on different levels of projects. Today I maintain 20+ open source projects, and also write technical articles to help others become better software developers.

Recently, you became one of the youngest to receive the Google Associate Android Developer certification.

It is a certification that says I have the industry-level skills required to be a professional Android developer. It is not a course certification, but an eight-hour-long programming test where one has to work on tasks on a real Android app project that Google provides. There’s a coding interview too, and that’s how one can be certified.

What projects are you currently working on?

I’m currently focussing on my developer publication genicsblog.com and my open source app JekyllEx. Genics is a public blog and open source platform where software developers can share their technical knowledge by writing on topics they are passionate about. It has about 600 monthly readers now; in January it was only 200! JekyllEx allows people to manage their Jekyll-powered blogs from their smartphone without the hassle of needing a desktop.

What’s your vision for this fast-growing world?

My vision is to build software and also create content that would help people upskill their knowledge in software development. I believe that free and open-source software is powerful. Most of what we see on the Internet today would not have existed if it weren’t for open source. So I would definitely continue to work on my open source projects.

Do you have any message for society?

I would like to change society’s mindset that kids can’t do anything without formal education. During the recent lockdowns, we saw a lot of people with mind-blowing ideas that have the potential to change the world. I believe that people should have an open mind and trust their kids by letting them pursue careers in any field they find interesting. Teaching kids to be passionate about what they want to do is a lot better than forcing them to change to something they might regret later. As for the kids, my message is believe in yourselves because you can do anything you want. When you know that you have the potential, go for it and earn your place in this world!

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AN INTERVIEW OF YOUNG ACHIEVER UDITI SHARMA – FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ELEVATE TECH (A NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION).

Uditi Sharma is a 16-year-old change-maker passionate about using technology for social good. She is the founder and executive director of Elevate Tech, a non-profit organisation with a mission to empowering gender minorities through technology and entrepreneurship.

She speaks about her journey. Founder of the First Step, a YouTube channel that features interviews of young achievers.

What prompted you to set up Elevate Tech?

As my Class IX examinations got over, I had a lot of free time to learn about computer science and participate in online coding events. I had been coding apps and websites since middle school, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity for me. However, noticed that barely any girls were present at these events- if any at all! saw potential in turning such events into an avenue for bringing in more girls into the tech space. So, was motivated to create an organisation to empower young girls like myself who were just venturing into the world of technology. Back when started the non-profit. I didn’t know it would become something so big and involve and impact thousands of people worldwide. I started by doing small workshops teaching my friends and their siblings how to code. To this day, teaching code is one of my favorite things to do. Slowly, my initiative became more extensive, and more people attended our workshops and events. As the organisation grew, we spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas for a large-scale, impact-driven event that would allow attendees to use technology for social good and empower others around them. This resulted in Elevate Hacks, a 48-hour hackathon. After Elevate Hacks, we have dedicated our time to other events, such as our fellowship and mentorship programmes. We’re currently planning to host the second edition of our hackathon this year.

Tell us more about Elevate Hacks. What kind of impact did it create?

We held our first hackathon event in July 2020. We had over 600 young girls from 35 countries around the globe who got together to create websites and apps that solved problems in their communities, resulting in the development of 65 products within two days! I knew my efforts from over six months serving as the lead and sponsorships director of the hackathon paid off when I saw the fantastic community of problem-solvers and entrepreneurs we had brought together.

In addition, we had over 20 guest speakers, workshop hosts, and panellists throughout the event to keep our audience engaged and encouraged, teaching them upcoming technologies such as machine learning and iOS app development.

What is your motivation to organise hackathons and similar events? What are your next steps?

Hackathons inspire me because of their focus on collaboration and problem-solving. At hackathons, you can find solutions to the world’s biggest problems with the support of so many others around you. I firmly believe technology and entrepreneurship can together solve the world’s most pressing issues and it’s so important to have young women be a part of this change.

As the hackathon ended, we researched improving the experiences of our hackers and began working on other impactful events. We learned the need for a long-term engagement that offered the same supportive hackathon culture but gave our participants flexibility with their time- and came up with the Elevate Tech fellowship programme. This is a three-month-long, grant-based fellowship programme that pairs young girls passionate about using STEM for social good and provides support from industry mentors and experts as they develop their products.

You’re the leader of Girl Up Dubai. Tell us more about that.

I’ve been part of the Girl Up for over a year now, serving as a club leader. coalition leader, and most recently as the leader of the Girl Up Gender Equality Action Group leader at the United Nations Foundation’s Big Brainstom. I worked with my team to create a gender-focussed climate advocacy tool-kit and presented our idea to the judging panel. This process took an intense amount of time and has made me ready to further step into the world of research-motivating me to continue working on solutions to further gender equality.

What are the projects you are working on?

love to code, and I’ve been making apps for over five years now. I have recently been working on an app called Vision Al, which aims to empower visually impacted individuals through artificial intelligence. I was inspired to work on Vision Al after seeing my grandmothers struggles with visual impairment. This app uses machine learning and image recognition to assist visually aided people in doing their everyday chores. I think the youth must learn how to solve problems using technology due to its accessibility. This urge to empower the youth through technology motivated me to create and lead IHS Launchpad, a start-up incubator at my high school with over 120 members.

What are your future plans?

Although I don’t have a set path yet, I’m excited to explore technology through the lens of entrepreneurship 3 and work on impactful start-ups and non-profits. Through my work at Elevate Tech and beyond, I aspire to not only shatter the glass ceiling but also build the elevator for other women to join the revolution by bridging the gender and socio-economic gap in technology and education.

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AN INTERVIEW OF YOUNG ACHIEVER VARSHINI VIJAY (THE FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF TEENS FOR CANCER PATIENTS)

The founder and the president of teens of cancer patients, she was inspired to set up the organisation after experiencing  first- hand the impact of a cancer diagnosis on her family.

What made you start Teens for Cancer Patients (TCP)?

Having a family member diagnosed with cancer was extremely painful for me to see. The impact on the whole family, the financial burden, the emotional trauma, and the big question, Will they survive after all of this?” all haunted me. Upon researching, I was shocked to find out that very few international cancer (non-government organisations) for teenagers existed. I realised this needed to be changed, and I saw myself as part of the solution to innovate. I created my non-profit venture to help the less privileged.

Tell us more about your campaign and fundraising by your organisation.

As many as 50% of people drop out of chemotherapy. TCP continuously strives to change this statistic. So far, we have circulated 10,000 sanitary napkins for cervical cancer awareness month. All funds raised proceed to oncologist Padma Shri Dr. Ravi Kannan, who has performed over 20,000 free surgeries. Our current awareness campaign Teens for Health’ educates low-income families on the impact of cancer and the importance of staying healthy through good habits such as practising mental wellness through exercise, proper sleep, tobacco avoidance, etc.

Tell us about the composition of TCP.

Launched in September 2021, TCP currently comprises over 500 volunteers across 12 countries, including India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia, and 10 different chapters. Our team comprises a biological research team and content writer, and aspects such as fundraising, internships, social media, and more. During the initiation of TCP, within a day of launch, over 100 people joined us. And now, the TCP family has more than 500 volunteers dedicated to fostering change.

What draws you to technology?

I am currently pursuing technology and working on the intersection of cancer and tech-how can technology advance cancer treatment? How can Al, already existent in tools such as mammograms, be taken to the next level? I love coding because it allows me to turn my innovation into action. Aspects such as app development, website creation, design, and many more are the future.

Share with us a few of your initiatives and inventions.

I am a member of the QLS InvenTeam, which received a grant from MIT to create a device for communication for basketball athletes with hearing impairment. Apart from this, I am the president of the technology school club, and we are creating an app for cancer patients, alongside circulating smart devices for less privileged children.

Who inspires you to walk this path?

My grandmother, one of the kindest and strongest people I have ever met. She taught me what compassion, gratitude, and love look like. If I win any award, she’s the cheerleader and always tears up, telling me how proud she is. In those days, women didn’t have as many opportunities as youngsters have now. I’m grateful for the opportunities provided to me.

What are your future plans? What would you like to change in society?

I aspire to help the world take one step closer to equality. TCP does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and orientation. All our events / opportunities are free and we always promote hard-working volunteers to officer positions. To put it simply, we don’t care where they come from, we care about their drive to be a changemaker. Such a mindset will create more entrepreneurs in the world with fewer problems. This equality helps me bring more and more future entrepreneurs from TCP.

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AN INTERVIEW OF YOUNG ACHIEVERS SHELDON CHONG AND EMERSON CHONG (AUTHORS, DIGITAL ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, ANIMATORS, YOUTUBERS, CODERS, GAME DEVELOPERS, WORKSHOP FACILITATORS, ENTREPRENEURS)

Sheldon Chong (15) and Emerson Chong (13) are award-winning siblings from Malaysia. They are authors, digital artists, musicians, animators, YouTubers, coders, game developers, workshop facilitators, entrepreneurs, and changemakers. They recently received the Silver YouTube Creator Award for reaching 100K subscribers, which they achieved within 10 months! They speak about their journey .

How did CyberLegends Animations come about?

Emerson: CyberLegends Animations is a YouTube channel 1 started. During the lockdown in 2020, 1 actively started creating and posting 2D animations on the channel. It all began when discovered a free animation app. Sheldon and I thought animation could be the next step in our art journey. Through the app. I learnt the tricks and a few tips to animate efficiently. When CyberLegends Animations started to grow, I started to animate based on popular games, giving them my own twist. Because we needed to produce animations quickly, consistently, and with high quality, Sheldon and I started to work together because he is skilled in digital art and can produce high quality work fast.

What are the awards you have won? Do you think that winning awards contributes to success?

Sheldon: We have won many awards locally and internationally. One of the competitions we participated in was the Young Entrepreneurs X-Factor in 2019. We had to pitch to the judges our solution to a problem. My idea was an Internet of Things-based smart parking system with an app that solves the problem of finding parking spaces. It uses cloud technology and Bluetooth to show data of parking spaces in real-time. Emerson’s project was to gamify learning history, and he pitched the idea of a pixelated roleplay game that showcases Japan’s history and culture. Emerson won the first place, and I was the runner-up in our respective age categories, winning scholarships to an international school. Recently, we took part in the Young Educators Challenge, in which we won the first place, which was a college scholarship. The objective was to teach a lesson online in a very engaging and innovative way. We combined roleplay and games to teach students in a fun way. We think awards are a result of success, through putting effort into your passion. Even if you don’t win but learn something, that would still be a success.

Tell us about your journey in writing.

Emerson: We have written two children’s story books each. “The Time Dimension” and “The Elementals” by Sheldon and “Attack of the Evil Clone” and “Egypto’s Adventure” by me. These are fictional stories for kids and teens. We got into writing by reading comics and other books, and eventually, we were interested in writing stories and combining them with our illustrations to create books.

Tell us about your comic Earth Boy and the documentary about it.

Emerson: This started when I took part in the international UNICEF Climate Comic Contest, in which participants had to create their own eco superhero. I created a character called Earth Boy, and then I explained. his powers and backstory. As a e runner-up amongst 3,000 entries, my character got its own comic and was translated into Spanish, French, and Hindi. I collaborated with an artist in New York who helped me create this comic it was published by the UNICEF in New York in 2018. After the comic was released, I kind of used Earth Boy as a mascot. I drew more Earth Boy comics such as ‘Earth Boy & Friends doing Beach Cleanup’, and ‘Earth Boy & Friends at the Mall, and shared them on social media. After hearing about my work, the United Nations sent a producer from the U.S. to film a short video about it. The video was about my work to inspire others to help save the Earth, using my creativity and art skills.

 You are into music. What kind of music do you play?

Sheldon: I play the piano, and Emerson plays the guitar and sings. With just the two of us, we started a small band. We perform mostly pop songs at functions, open mics, and charity events. Our parents encouraged us to play music, and eventually, playing live to the public helped boost our confidence to do even more.

What message do you have for your peers?

We think it is important to find and follow your passion. Through your passion, you can find ways to do so many other things. All the things that we have done, i.e. music, animation, writing, etc. came from our passion, drawing. Even if you don’t have a passion, you can always learn something from books, a friend, the Internet, and more. Passion adds value to you and what you do.

As siblings, how does it feel to have somebody by your side who can help you?

Emerson: Well, we have our parents, who give us a lot of support in what we do. Drawing has been our passion since we were really young. and our parents supported us. They also took us to art galleries and museums to help us enrich our knowledge about art. They are never against what we do, and support our passion. We also are very supportive of each other. For example, Sheldon helps me with my animation through colouring digitally and making the thumbnails, while I animate and add sounds. Sometimes we do have our own views on how we want to do things, but there’s always something where we work together.

What do you like to do in your free time, apart from your work in writing, animation, and art?

Emerson: I like creating art and crafts with paper and cardboard. Once I made my own card game and took it to school, and surprisingly, a lot of people played it! Sheldon likes sports, especially swimming, cycling, and kayaking.

What are your plans for the future? What is one thing you want to change in society?

Sheldon: We are probably going to write more books, and I want to learn to compose music, and Emerson wants to grow our YouTube channel to reach one million subscribers. We would like to change the mindset of people, to inspire them to follow their passion and to unfold their potential.

Picture Credit : Google