First off, my high school graduation was yesterday! Congratulations to the Fort Worth Country Day Class of 2012! It sure has been a ride, and I really couldn’t ask for a better graduating class. It’s off to be bigger and better things from here.
Also, the other day, I’ve had some pretty exciting speaking opportunities lately! From getting to give a keynote speech at the UNT Health Science Center where I did all my research to getting up in front of ovarian cancer survivors in Grapevine, TX as a part of the Teal Tally, it’s been such an honor to get to see all sides of what my work has affected – inspiring younger kid and hopefully making steps forever in taking care of those affected by the terrible disease of ovarian cancer.
Other than that, I’m headed off to Harvard this fall (finally committed), and I’m so excited to be interning this summer, traveling to CERN in Geneva, and, of course, judging the next Google Global Science Fair. Here we go.
Being a part of President Obama’s second ever White House Science Fair was such an honor! I got to set up in the White House, presented to some incredible scientists including Dr. Harold Varmus of the National Cancer Institute, met other science fair winners, and sat next to and took selfies (self pictures) with Bill Nye the Science Guy! Bill Nye who I grew up watching and who taught me the states of matter!!
YAY. TEDx WOMEN 2011! Skip to 6:30 for me. Getting to be on the stage with Lauren Hodge (winner of 13-14 age category) and Naomi Shah (winner of 15-16 age category) and in a TEDx event was such an amazing honor.
Thank you to the entire TED team and Google who made it possible.
Here’s a second (AHH!) shout out from the president at a recent speech he gave at the National Women’s Law Center’s Annual Awards Dinner. Check it out!
It was such an honor to be one of Glamour Magazine’s 21 Young Amazing Women of the Year, honored alongside some really awesome women who are really changing the world. The Women of the Year was a star studded event, awarding celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Lea Michelle, and Laura Bush. It was such an incredible opportunity to be a part of it.
Other than that, I had the opportunity to visit Google NY and have lunch with some really awesome women at Google including Google leaders Eileen Naughton & Bonita Stewart. And I shared my stories and got college advice from the women: “give yourself the flexibility to change your mind….multiple times!” and “enjoy college, don’t forget to have fun!”
And yes, during the awesome trip to New York City, I did fulfill one of my bucket list wishes of walking around Times Square drinking coffee from Starbucks. Yay!
Here’s a recent Presidential mention of the Google Global Science Fair winners with a special shout out to Shree at the awards ceremony for the National Medals of Science, Technology, and Innovation.
I was recently honored as the recipient of the Greater Dallas Indo-American Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Achievement Award. I had the opportunity to meet with the Indian Minister of Commerce, Hon. Anand Sharma and accept the award from him. It was truly a great honor and I would like to thank the GDIACC.
White House. National Institute of Health. Environmental Protection Agency. US Department of Agriculture. Getting to go to one of the above and catch a glimpse of even one significant figure responsible for huge global change? Lucky. Getting to go to all of the above and actually sit down and talk with many of such individuals? Incredible. And yet, over the past two days in Washington D.C., that is exactly what being one of the winners of the first ever Google Global Science Fair has allowed us to do.
From the surreal moment when President Obama opened the door of the Oval Office to greet us to getting to sit down with some of the most powerful people directing much of the research in the nation through NIH funding, this trip has truly been an once-in-a-lifetime experience. These jam-packed two days of being whisked around our nation’s capital have brought us all face to face with many of the people who have shaped the nation as a whole and, therefore, shaped this environment that others in the world strive to emulate where high school students like us can aspire to achieve beyond simply what is taught in classes. And even beyond that, this trip has given us the opportunity to meet some of the people who have been extraordinarily successful in the fields we wish to go into in the future, people who are and will be excellent contacts as we begin our careers in our respective interests.
I think I can speak for all of us winners, when I say that getting the chance to come on this trip as one of the winners of the Google Global Science Fair has been an amazing honor.
So, this life-changing trip? I’ve got only one word to describe it.
I was so privileged to have the opportunity to speak at Google’s Zeitgeist Conference in Phoenix from November 25-27, 2011. Being on stage with Ms. Chelsea Clinton, Eric Berdinis (the winner of the Google Zeitgeist Young Minds Competition), and Scot Frank (an incredible entrepreneur doing some really great work in Asia) was absolutely an once-in-a-lifetime experience and I was really lucky! Check it out!
Being the Grand Prize winner of the first ever Google Science Fair was absolutely incredible. To have the opportunity to compete against some of the most incredible minds I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and present in front of world-acclaimed scientists and judges and to actually be chosen as the winner was just unbelievable. Winning the Google Science Fair already has and will open up so many more doors for my future in research and science, so it was definitely my dream award and I’m so happy I was given an opportunity to fulfill that dream.
So thank you to Google and all of the other sponsors who made such an amazing opportunity available!
It was such an honor to be one of Glamour Magazine’s 21 Young Amazing Women of the Year, honored alongside some really awesome women who are really changing the world. The Women of the Year was a star studded event, awarding celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Lea Michelle, and Laura Bush. It was such an incredible opportunity to be a part of it.
