India Visit 2022 - Exploring the world heritage sites

 

(Photo Courtesy: Odisha Tourism : Glimpses of Odisha)

This summer, my family and I took a trip to India, to the state of Odisha. Odisha is a part of Eastern India. This was our first trip to India in four years since my family and I last went in 2018. We usually go to India for family gatherings, but on this trip, we decided to see some relatives and several tourist sites. We were in India for around three weeks. We didn't accomplish much during the first week after going there because everyone in our family was jet-lagged. We spent most of our time on our phones and visited a few relatives. We saw several tourist spots after our jet lag subsided. 

Khandagiri and Udaygiri Caves: Hill of Rising son

We started by traveling to Khandagiri. Khandagiri is a 110-foot-tall hill that contains 15 caves. Udaygiri, situated adjacent to Khandagiri, has 18 caves. There are numerous Jain drawings in the caves built during the 1^st century BCE. These caves are popular tourist destinations and are crucial to Odisha's history because they provide the earliest proof that Jainism existed. King Kharavela built the caves as the living place of Jain monks. They also contain several inscriptions by the king.

Dhauligiri: Shanti Stupa or Peace pagoda

We traveled to Dhauli from Khandagiri. Dhauli peace monument sits on a lovely and quiet mountaintop. The peace monument was established in 1972 to commemorate King Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism to promote peace worldwide after the Kalinga war(261 B.C.). Asoka, the victorious king, became a Buddhist after seeing the devastation and pain after the war. Popular folklore mentions that the nearby Daya river was dyed red due to the massive number of deaths during the Kalinga war. 

Nandankanan Zoo – Home of White Tiger

We visited the Nandankanan Zoo after Dhauli. The Nandankanan Zoo has a large variety of species. White Tiger, one of the rarest creatures in the world, can be found here. In addition, this zoo houses lions, eagles, wolves, snakes, elephants, and crocodiles. 

Konark – The Sun Temple

We traveled to Konark to see the Sun Temple the next day. This temple was built in the 13^th century for the Hindu sun god "Surya". The original temple was created as a chariot of Sun God driven by twenty-four wheels and pulled by seven horses. The main temple has collapsed over the years; the only remains are the entrance to the temple. It features numerous intricate embellishments. Beautifully carved elephants, lions, and wheels may be seen at the temple's front and sides.

Puri -The abode of Lord Jagannath

The Jagannath temple in Puri was the last spot we visited. This temple is among the most well-known temples and tourist sites in India. The Hindu god Jagannath, often known as the Creator of the Universe, is honored in this temple. Other smaller temples are close to the Jagannath temple, while the main temple is the tallest at 214.8 feet. Puri also has a beautiful sea beach(the Bay of Bengal). We had a fun time on the beach! 

I had a great time on this trip because it was the first time I could explore Odisha fully and see it from various angles. I gained a lot of knowledge about the rich history of Odisha, as well as Buddhism and Jainism. Additionally, I got to view the local wildlife, and the vacation was generally a lot of fun. 

For further information:   Odisha Tourism : Visit Odisha | Travel & Tourism | Official Site

 

Key Club - My volunteering at Feed My Starving Children

Key Club is the largest group at my high school. Key Club organizes volunteer projects. Key Club offers a variety of service possibilities for students who cannot find volunteer projects outside of school. They outline upcoming events at school meetings, and you can sign up to attend them. 

I've participated in Feed My Starving Children events so far. Feed my Starving Children(FMSC) is a nonprofit organization that assists in packaging food for delivery to developing nations. One can help FMSC in many ways by raising funds or donations. In addition to giving monetary support, one can provide voluntary services. One can go there and assist in food packaging in their facility. I've joined three events this year and spent 5 hours and 30 minutes thus far.

I'm thinking about organizing extra activities for Key Club. The one that comes to me right now is an app that records your bike mileage. The number of miles will donate to a charitable organization/event. However, I will continue to join Feed My Starving Children events since I am so grateful that I can assist so many individuals in need.

My First Fundraising - Covenant House Sleep Out 2022

Covenant House Illinois(CHIL) is a Chicago nonprofit that aims to end youth homelessness. Covenant House's primary goal is to provide shelter to homeless youths. In addition, Covenant House provides them with skill training, legal and mental health services. They help the children to be self-reliant and get back to everyday life. Covenant House website: Homelessness | Covenant House Illinois | Chicago 

My father has volunteered his time to this nonprofit for the last three years. I have therefore been familiar with this organization for some time. Every year, a week before Thanksgiving, they do an Executive Sleep Out fundraising event. The Sleep Out objective, as mentioned on the CHIL website, is "The Sleep Out is not about impersonating homelessness. We Sleep Out to show our solidarity with those who are – and to let the world know about the ever-growing population of young people who face homelessness.". Link to the CHIL 2022 Sleep Out video: Sleep Out Chicago 2022 Video - YouTube

This year was my first time taking part in Covenant House Sleep Out. I went to the kickoff event with my father, which was a very humble experience. One of the youths who uses the CHIL facility was interviewed and shared his life journey. After the kickoff ceremony, I was grateful for what I had, but I was also inspired to lend a hand. My objective was to raise $500 using the fundraising page created by Covenant House. This was my first fundraising experience, and thanks to several generous friends and family members who helped me raise more than $600!! 

The Sleep Out event was on 17^th November 2022. Most of those who participated in the fundraising went to Chicago and slept outside in the freezing cold, wind, and snow. CHIL does not allow kids under 18 to sleep outside. Hence I decided to make myself uncomfortable and slept on our basement floor. This experience has made me aware of the awful realities of the world, but it has also made me aware of many individuals who are willing to help. I'll continue to support Covenant House Sleep Out beyond this year.

Stanford Inspirit AI Experience

A two-week long coding and AI summer camp was called Inspirit AI. In this session, we studied artificial intelligence (AI) and what it is, what it does in the world today, and how coding can help further AI in the future. We learned about coding after mastering the fundamentals of AI. Python was the coding language we studied in Inspirit AI. I chose to join this program because I wanted to learn more about coding and explore my potential applications for it. The program at Inspirit AI was divided into two weeks. During the first week, we learned the fundamentals of coding and AI, and during the second and last weeks, we applied what we had learned from the prior weeks to create a presentation on how to code for our project. Each day's courses would last for two and a half hours.

The first day of the program began with the teachers discussing the fundamentals of AI and how it is applied in people's daily lives. Following this, we split up into separate breakout rooms with various professors to study the fundamentals of Python. On the second day of the course, we discovered several uses for Python, including machine learning. We used linear regression for our machine learning, essentially AI that predicts how something will turn out. We learned how to use Python for logistic regression on the third day of the program. Logistic regression is very similar to linear regression, except that it uses linear bounds to predict the prediction. The fourth day was dedicated to teaching us about NLP, or natural language processing, which is how computers translate human language. We studied computer vision and neural networks on the last day of the first week, which is how the computer detects images. Next, we used Python to enhance computer vision.

Our project was initiated during the second week. This assignment incorporated every subject we learned about the previous week. I worked on a project called disaster relief. We essentially created routines that would aid AI in tweet detection and ensure that the AI is aware of the tweet's topic. For instance, if the tweet contains the term "water," our technology would enable the AI to recognize that the message is discussing water resources. We created a presentation to describe the operation of our project to the audience once the project was completed. We were done after giving our presentation.

Overall, I thought this was a fantastic software because up until now, my experience with Python scripting had been limited to small tasks. It was interesting to see how we could use Python in practical situations; it truly helps you appreciate how far technology has come. I believed that knowing about AIs and how they work was incredibly beneficial because if you could comprehend how the AI works, then this entire summer camp was pretty simple. I didn't encounter many issues, but I felt that the program's speed was a major issue because some pupils found it challenging because they had never used Python and had only received a brief introduction. In conclusion, I suggest enrolling in this program if you wish to work in the technology sector.

Georgetown Law Academy Experience

The Georgetown Law Academy was an online summer program where you could learn a lot about the law and what a lawyer does daily. I enrolled in this program because I had to research a lawyer in middle school and I found their profession to be incredibly fascinating. I made the decision to enroll in this legal school in order to understand more about lawyers. The duration of this program was 5 days, with an average of 8 hours per day.

We discussed property and legislation on the first day's activities. We were to discuss the instances that the guest speaker offered us after explaining the property laws. He would then provide the right response and explain why. Following that, we took a two-hour lunch break, during which time we talked about holding a mock trial on the program's final day. Everyone was given a role after they had stated the scenario. They then divided us into teams, and we spent some time planning our approach to the simulated trial with our team. The mock trial's plot involved a violent cyclone that caused all of the city's people to flee to the dome. A few adolescents robbed some stores after the hurricane because there weren't enough supplies for everyone, and a police officer caught them doing it. Therefore, the question is whether the police officer performing their duty or the teens who needed to provide for their families were in the right.

On the second day, we went through the schedule and decided to do it this coming week. Following their explanation of everything, a guest speaker discussed the fundamental traffic laws and asked us whether we believed the police's response to a hypothetical event on the highway was appropriate. Following that, we took a two-hour lunch break, during which time we talked about holding a mock trial on the program's final day. After another two-hour lunch break, we practiced the fake trial. In the Mock Trial exercise, they provided us with the necessary evidence and displayed trial footage to demonstrate how we ought to conduct ourselves in court. After that, we began collaborating in groups to prepare for the mock trial.

We completed a case study on a serial killer on day three. We had to figure out the killer's identity and motivations using the many hints the guest speaker had provided. After the case study, the guest speaker provided the solution and detailed his entire experience. All the hints pointed to one individual, but it turned out to be someone different, so the guest speaker duped everyone. Day 3 was my favorite day of the story because it was so engaging. We had the entire mock trial practice period to work on our case and gather as much evidence as we could after the two-hour lunch break.

The fourth day was shorter than normal because all we did was the fake trial. We spent a lot of time refining our argument and attempting to present the strongest case we could. The mock trial finally took place on the fifth and final day of the program; we went up against another group, and I presented the case. There would then be two witnesses and a person who interrogated the witnesses in an effort to support their testimony. We ended up drawing, but I thought it was a really enjoyable experience.

I had a great time at the Georgetown Law academy and discovered a lot of new information there. The simulated trial was amazing, but all the activities we performed during the program were incredibly enjoyable. We got to experience what it was like to be a lawyer thanks to Mock Trial, which was realistic. Despite being a pretend trial, the level of pressure was substantial. I felt like I learned a lot in such a short time, so I really enjoyed this course. The only drawback I could identify with this course was that it should have been spread out more equally since I occasionally became quite fatigued. Overall, this was a really wonderful course, and it will be especially helpful if you want to practice law or do something else related to it in the future.

High School Transition

I am currently a freshman at high school and I just finished my first semester. Your high school years are supposed to be one of the most important years in your life for many reasons. One reason is you meet a lot of new people and make a lot of new friends. Another reason is if you are successful academically then you have a very high chance of getting into a good college. Well since I have a lot of time still remaining in my high school career I will talk about the hardships of transitioning from middle school to high school.

Going into high school I was very confident in my ability to get all A’s, I thought it was the exact same as middle school. In middle school I found it very easy for me because all the homework assignments were just completion grades, all the tests and quizzes you could study the night before and get a very good score, and there weren’t multiple tests or quizzes on the same day. But later I realize I was very wrong. The first few weeks of high school were exactly what I envisioned, homework was completion points, there weren’t that many tests/quizzes, and I could study the day before and still get good scores. But after those weeks things got more difficult for me, the tests and quizzes got more difficult and I had to know the subject very well instead of procrastinating on the last day to study. I started to get lower scores than I usually got and I started to panic. Not only that, but finding time to do everything was difficult for me. I had a lot of clubs before or after school and that really messed up my schedule for studying and finishing up my homework. Towards the end of the semester, everything started to pile up because it was Finals week. During the last 2 weeks of the semester, I spent a lot of time studying for Finals and Finals were a lot easier in my opinion compared to the Unit tests we had in other subjects. I think the reason for this was that the Finals questions were not as specific and were more straightforward. Also, I spent more time studying for Finals than the Unit Tests. Now there were a lot of good things in high school like I met a lot of new people, our school hosted a Homecoming Dance and that was very fun in my opinion, I went to a lot of the school football games and the experience was very fun. In Middle School, there were some dances and sports games you could attend but they weren’t as fun and a lot of people didn’t anticipate it as much compared to High school.

Heading into next semester I am planning not to procrastinate as much hoping I get better scores on tests/quizzes and I am planning on managing my time a lot better since now I know when my clubs are. To incoming freshmen reading this blog, don’t be too stressed out about high school but at the same time do not procrastinate since that was a very bad habit I got into in Middle School.