Hey and welcome back to my newsletter!
for those of you who don’t know me: My name is Anya Sharma and I’m a high school student from Toronto passionate about biology and tech . During my free time I like to sketch, watch movies and learn about anything and everything that sparks my interest 🌞
This past month has been a roller-coaster of emotions and events. From grade 11 tests and assignments to delving into new interests, November has been a month of self improvement.
Here is a quick update of what I have been doing throughout the month 👇
Explore Hackathon @TKS
Deca regionals
Learning more about sugar and its affects on the body
Explore Hackathon @ TKS 👩🏻💻
Almost every other kid in my class has an anaphylactic allergy. The current solutions for this problem are temporary, and almost never quite solve the issue. For example there is the epi-pen which only stops the reaction.
But, out of the people who experience anaphylaxis, up to 1 percent die. Anaphylaxis results in approximately 1,500 deaths per year in the U.S.
My team and I came up with a permanent solution to this problem- Gene Editing! Removing the reactant from our body itself would solve the problem completely, essentially preventing any death in the first place.
Here is a picture of my group!
I am the one in the White LEVI’s shirt!
My key 🔑 takeaways:
Create a set plan of when to do what
A key problem my group fell in a trap to was that we researched for ideas for a long time, but found our solution later in time → this is the only way to get things done!
Team Dynamics is essential
Knowing your team before and during the hackathon, and make sure that you know both their strengths and weaknesses (remember: not everyone can do everything!)
Prototypes are essential
For the judges to understand our solution, the way for them to grasp it better is to actually see how it works.
I am so very grateful for this experience, and thank you to my wonderful group Ami, Alishbah, Haadiya, Aryanna, and Amrita.
Deca regionals:
This month I had my DECA regionals competition. But, there was a catch.
Rather than doing the normal case study + exam that we do every year, TDSB schools only had to do the exam. As someone who loves the a case study aspect (my favourite part of the whole competition), this really did suck.
So I focused on the exam preparation, and got to work. After many, many hours of preparation it all paid off! I made it to provincials.
Here is a photo of my results ^^
Exploring what sugar does to the body:
In the world, around 537 million people have diabetes. Including many of my family members.
I have always been curious as to why it is such a huge problem, and why it is just so easy to be addicted by it.
Check this link out if you want to learn more about it too!
Highlights of the Month:
Along with the three main events of the month, here are a couple other highlights I had :)
Starting and finishing a Before and After painting:
These past 2 weeks I have been creating a Before and After painting from scratch. From taking my own photos of small ice-cream shaped erasers to painting them was a long, tiresome process.
As someone who has never done acrylic before, at first I hated it. But as time went on, I improved and found my flow of painting, making this amazing product that I feel extremely proud off.
My key 🔑 takeaways:
While painting, bold colours and shapes is the way to go
Don’t be afraid to mess up, since this is how we learn
Make sure to mix colours before hand (this is key for painting, and the main reason why I messed up so many times)
Franz’s first birthday!
This past year I have been raising a future guide dog named Franz. Here is a photo of him smiling on his special day :D
Thanks for reading this far!
That’s about it for my first every newsletter. Thanks for sticking around up until here, and if you liked it please give it a like and subscribe.
If you want to connect with me here is my LinkedIn and/or my email (anya.ishani.sharma@gmail.com).
See you all next time
- Anya Sharma
Love this Anya!