My journey to becoming a teacher...

I completed a bachelor’s degree in science followed by a bachelor’s degree in education. I decided to not go for a post graduate degree because I was passionate about teaching younger children and wanted to get started right away. I have now been teaching for 2 years. I teach science to students in grade 3 and 4 and biology to students in grades 7 and 8. I am happy in this profession and enjoying it very much.

When I was younger, I had a different idea of what I wanted to pursue as a career. My father was in the Indian Army, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. However, I saw that lack of education was a major impediment faced by the children in my community. And I decided that I wanted to do my part to address that. That’s why I chose this profession.

I am inspired by...

Puneet Rajkumar. He is a very popular and well-known movie star.  But, beyond that, I am inspired by his commitment to social service. He started Shakthidhama – a charitable organization focused on improving the lives of women and girls that come from disadvantaged families.

My experience with Aikyam...

Aikyam’s goals aligns well with my own desire to engage in social service. I find the program very useful and unique. The students participating in Aikyam Club at our school are fully engaged, demonstrating that they can think beyond their textbooks and that they have greater awareness about their surroundings than expected. They started with big problems involving politics, deforestation etc. but eventually settled on a problem that they can relate to. They want to do something about stray dogs and other animals wandering in their neighborhoods as well as the homeless that are not getting basic needs such as food.