PAUL PORTFOLIO

Contribution

As co-chair, I was responsible for the members of this club and had to ensure that they learned the concepts being taught. I also had to research fun ways to engage the younger members and spent time planning the class in a way that would engage them.

Experience, what I learned

The role of co-chair was tricky. So far, not everyone is participating or engaging with their teammates. The club has members from 6th to 12th grade, so I have to pick topics that younger participants can understand while engaging the older members. As of right now, I think I have found that balance by starting with something and then expanding to a more complex topic. The experience so far has improved my abilities as a leader and a teacher.

Contribution

I choose cooking, table tennis, and working in my friend’s NGO
It also involved an adventure journey, which taught us wilderness skills, such as how to use a compass and cook food.
As part of the journey, we had to trek up Nelji hills in Coorg, an 8-hour round-trip. Surprisingly, I managed to keep my pace throughout the whole thing, and though I started last, I was the first student to reach the peak

Experience, what I learned

This journey was calming and pleasant. Seeing the different terrain going up the hill was fascinating, and eating snacks with friends over a scenic view was amazing. The whole thing really boosted my connection to nature, and I’m tempted to do another one of these treks again

Contribution

As a proactive student in my grade, I was selected to meet and interview Dr J. Radhakrishnan, who is the Chairman and Managing Director of TANGEDCO, the primary state-owned power utility for Tamil Nadu, India, responsible for electricity generation and distribution. We talked about his fascinating career path—from veterinary science all the way to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), where he really emphasized how important it is to have leadership on the ground, work well with a team, and stay committed to public service

Experience, what I learned

What stuck with me most were the amazing stories and hard-earned lessons he shared from leading during huge crises, like the 2004 Tsunami and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Hearing about his experiences was incredibly inspiring and gave me a lot to think about

Contribution

As a key presenter, I designed and presented the physics behind the ballistics of a cricket ball from when it is hit by the batter, explaining the math behind finding the maximum height and the distance the ball travelled. Additionally, I created an interactive model on demos, which I used to show how the trajectory changes based on the speed and angle of the ball’s path, and, in particular, what the requirements of hitting a six are. I also helped younger presenters understand the concepts they were presenting better, for a more fluid presentation

Experience, what I learned

I learned a lot about how to break down complex topics, such as how to resolve vectors, in a way a general audience could understand. I learned a lot about how to present my ideas as a speaker in general, and how to keep up my stamina and the audience’s engagement during a presentation. It was tricky, since the whole thing was at least 2 hours long, but I enjoyed the experience. Explaining concepts like addition, subtraction and multiplication to younger presenters (1st, 2nd and 3rd graders) in my group was also very gratifying

Contribution

As a literary secretary, I actually played an important role in organising a government book fair hosted in my school. I gave a speech to the students on the importance of reading and the pursuit of intelligence, and recorded a presentation for the organisers on the different kinds of books we had at the fair. This, being a government initiative, was a huge honour for me as literary secretary.