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blog Innovation | 3min Read

5 Reasons Why You Should Learn Robotics in High School

Published on July 7, 2021

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5 Reasons Why You Should Learn Robotics in High School

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Technology continues to invade the mind of every innovator. Technology is the today and the tomorrow of our times. Today, writing software, building drones and robots are not the things that only scientists or business tycoons can do. In fact, most innovative tech-based tools being programmed are by the “true digital natives” – The Gen Z.

The importance of robotics is widely recognized. Learning robotics in High School can increase your ability to be creative and empower you to become a critical thinker. It is not just a field of study or a hobby to pursue but rather a necessary 21st century skill. By learning robotics, a whole new world of opportunities expands that you wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

But before you go, “Alexa, how to build a robot?”, here are 5 more reasons why you should learn robotics:

  1. Introduction to Programming
    Programming is often too complex but Robotics is simpler to understand and provides a more tangible introduction to programming. As a student, you can program your very own physical robot by learning from nature and applying the principles of nature (Biomimicry) into automation technology. eMotion Butterfly is one example of Biomimicry. The developers combine the ultralight construction of artificial insects with coordinated flying behaviour in a collective.
    So, you can build robots and have fun while learning valuable skills at the same time! Programming and robotics make students more likely to be successful innovative entrepreneurs in the future.

  2. Creative Thinking
    Robotics is the space that incorporates both creativity and fun simultaneously. You can have full control over devising your robot and be able to learn from what your robot can or cannot do. You have the opportunity to be a learner and an innovator at the same time. You can build something cool that interacts with the environment and program it to perform actions of your choice. Programming new features that help you push the boundaries of innovation and design is one of the coolest things to do in this generation. Don’t you agree!?

  3. Turning Frustration into Innovation
    A never-give-up attitude and perseverance is something that Robotics demands. Programming a robot is complex but think of the complex problems it can solve. Some suggest, to be called a productive member of society, one must be able to identify problems and find solutions that can replace humans in performing a range of tasks instantly. Problems that cause frustration can be solved with innovation and all that you require is creativity and guidance through the process.

  4. Foundation For A Bright Career
    Careers in technology are the fastest growing. Industries constantly look for individuals who can come up with innovative ideas and be equipped with the knowledge to design and create the technology needed. The future sees a tremendous growth in technology and innovation of social robots like Sofia. One way to build a successful career is to demystify a simple-to-understand technology like Robotics. You can build robots to address fears and tackle global emergencies.
    Just like the computers came around a century ago, and we never predicted that their intervention could bring about such massive development as they have in the areas of Communication, Education, Health care etc. Similarly, the foundation for Robotics is being laid down right now with great hopes to improve the future, so, ‘right now’ is definitely the best time to be a part of this bandwagon.

  5. Turn Knowledge Into Creativity
    Robotics is a field that allows you to channel competitive instincts in a positive way. You can exemplify technology directly by programming a robot while learning about science, maths, engineering and get an understanding of how these subjects are linked together. Your experience in trying to build robots gives appreciation of your capabilities and strengths. More importantly, you can even innovate more features for an existing robot that you know or are inspired by.
    Robotics is an exciting field of study. It is something that has the power to change the world. The ideas are transformed into real-world solutions. So, what sort of robot do you fancy developing?

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blog Productivity | 5min Read

Top 5 Ways Students Can Utilise Their Time Effectively

Published on June 29, 2021

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Top 5 Ways Students Can Utilise Their Time Effectively

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Oftentimes, students find themselves perplexed about what to do with their time. Only recently exposed to the real world, these adolescents have to suddenly find a way to balance their social life, academics and personal time with only a limited amount of energy. Most teenagers have preferences regarding the aforementioned and so decide accordingly. Some succumb to the burden of parental or academic pressure and put their preferences aside to focus on their studies. During the time of the pandemic, these feelings have heightened even more and boredom has peaked. There’s nothing to do and with feelings of disorientation all around, all leads to one question: what do we do?

Answering this question mostly depends on the person, their inclinations and priorities. All others, even our parents and teachers, can really do is suggest. At the end of the day, we’re the ones who make the final decisions. So, to guide students through this phase of doubt and uncertainty, here are some suggestions::

Exercise

Working out may sound exhausting. I mean we’re already doing so much every day, why do we have to exercise? And if we’re trying to conserve our energy, isn’t spending it on physical activity the opposite? Well, it really depends on how much energy one spends. While some people like to do intense training, some are more into the mindfulness side of exercise like yoga. Even if one spends a lot of energy on physical exertion, it’s energy well spent since working out has many direct and indirect benefits. Not only does it help you reduce your risk of heart diseases and certain cancers, it also benefits your mental health – decreases stress! – and makes your brain sharper.

One actually doesn’t need to take too much time out for exercise, even 30 minutes a day is perfectly fine. They can try to incorporate it into their daily routine by making it more fun and tracking their progress for motivation. All in all, exercise is a quite beneficial practice and it helps you clear your head more than anything. So, it’s definitely one of the places where you should put your energy.

Hobbies

For those of us who don’t enjoy physical exertion whatsoever, there are other alternatives as well, such as trying out new hobbies. These can literally be anything. Playing the guitar, painting, singing, writing, designing etc. Another benefit is that you will most probably end up doing what you want to, not what you need to. Hobbies provide a creative outlet for all and are one of the best forms of expression. Truly engaging with something you enjoy and letting yourself go can reduce stress, and improve creativity and even your academic performance. These new experiences help teenagers step out of their comfort zones, which can actually allow them to find their passion. Plus, you become a much more interesting person if you have some hobbies. They enrich your perspective and let you leave a memorable impression on those you meet. Hobbies are a great way to spend your energy, and some barely require any, so you should definitely go out there and see what you like!

Building Your Profile

It’s never too early to start thinking about college. If boredom strikes earlier in your adolescent years for you, building your college profile might just be what you need to succeed. While studying or doing co-curriculars can sound draining, finding something you seriously love can make it so much more fun. The advantages and opportunities are endless once you start, block by block, you can create something amazing that will increase your future potential. And, through this profile you can put across your true, authentic personality. It takes energy, sure, but if you have fun while doing it, it is incredibly advantageous and hence, definitely worth it.

Socialise

The likelihood of your friends also being very bored is extremely high. Most probably, you’re not alone in your exhaustion and have other acquaintances and confidantes who feel the same way. Hanging out with your friends is extremely entertaining. You can do so much in online settings, play video games, listen to music and even watch shows through extensions such as Netflix Party. Most of the time, you end up making memories and inside jokes that live on forever. These irreplaceable moments are something definitely worth spending your energy on. Additionally, socialising can help with your mental health and self-esteem too. Spending time with people we care about often helps us get an external perspective and prevents thought-spirals! We dream, learn, grow and work as a part of a society while socialising. It can definitely act as an amazing alternative to spending your days lonely and bored.

Relax

It might seem counterintuitive to suggest this after the above options but sometimes, a lot of people just want to do nothing and that’s okay. Being by yourself and just relaxing is often the best thing you can do. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking some time out for yourself and no reason to feel guilty about it. Focusing on yourself and your health-mental or physical-may just benefit you even more in the future. Easing up reduces stress and anxiety but it also helps lower your heart rate and reduce chronic pain. This helps us eventually gain a clearer and calmer mindset, which can make us more productive and efficient. Further, just being alone for a little while can even allow you to find your real personality, separated from most external pressure. When you’re close to being burnt out, relaxing is the most productive thing you can do for yourself in the long run because you’re preventing future roadblocks by taking out time for yourself! It alleviates your stress, pain and confusion; sometimes the best way to utilise energy is to simply let it rest and build.

So, there’s a lot of choices but informing yourself about things like this is the first step towards becoming more and more efficient as each day passes. It may still be very hard to decide but all someone can really do is try. Don’t worry about failing, remind yourself that even that is a part of increasing your potential and at least, you attempted to do something you wanted to do. Putting yourself out there and trying out some of these might just increase your future potential a hundredfold. All it requires is for you to learn how to use your energy properly.

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blog Internship | 3min Read

Internships For High School Students: Benefits and Guide

Published on June 24, 2021

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Internships For High School Students: Benefits and Guide

For high school students, finding internships can be a daunting task.. Wait, is it even possible to get an internship without any prior job experience? Yes, indeed, it is!

Several companies and organizations provide internships to high school students, even those who do not have much experience.

However, do internships help you? Are they worth the effort and energy? Let’s take a look at how internships benefit you and how you can score them as well!

Internship For High School Students & Their Benefits:

  1. Internships add a lot more significance to your college application because it showcases your work ethic and determination to get tasks done.

  2. Paid internships are also a great way for students to earn along with studying. NGOs hire student interns and volunteers as well.

  3. Heard of “Remote internships” yet? Remote internships help you build essential personality traits such as self-discipline and self-motivation. Online internships for high school students are offered by a variety of companies to help students develop planning, execution, and organizational skills.

  4. High school internships give you a brief introduction and peeks into what your career might look like in the future.

  5. In case you are not sure about your career choice, you can explore different career paths through internships.

  6. Interning will also give you an insight into the lifestyle of your employers and how your future might look working in the same field.

  7. It helps you learn several essential skills like time management, communication skills and how to work in a team.

  8. Internships are a more productive way to utilise your time, therefore they are best suited for summer breaks and term breaks.

In short, internships are incredibly beneficial, not just for your college application but for your growth as well.

The main question is how to get those internships. Here is a short guide to doing so,

  1. Do your research- The most crucial step is to do your research, figure out where your interests lie, find companies that work towards a similar goal or in a similar field. Students can ask their teachers for help as well.

  2. Update/Build your resume- Having a resume as a high school student might sound odd, but you must have an overview before applying for internships. However, if you cannot find anything to put in the resume, do not send a blank pdf with just your name and school. Make sure the resume or application reflects your personality.

  3. Mail the companies- Often, companies do not have internship application forms on their website. This is why you must email them. If they have internship forms on their website, you can apply through that. However, that is not always the case. In such cases, you can send them an email. The email must include your name, education, a brief introduction (like your interest, hobbies, etc.), your resume, the position you want to apply for, or the field you want to work in (for example, graphic designing, content creation, marketing, etc.) Apart from this, there are several other sites and apps which help you come in contact with the companies for internships, like Intershala, Glassdoor, etc.

Overall, it might be troublesome to find internships or companies that accept high school students as interns. However, it is achievable. These three steps are just the umbrella steps for the entire application process.

Just remember not to take too much pressure or you will burn yourself out!

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blog Harvard | 3min Read

My Unparalleled Harvard YLC Experience: Is Applying Worth The Time?

Published on June 23, 2021

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My Unparalleled Harvard YLC Experience: Is Applying Worth The Time?

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Trying Is Always Better Than Wondering

Everyone starts gearing up for their college applications from 9th grade at the latest. It’s common for students to sign up for co-curriculars they don’t really enjoy but rather commit to out of obligation. I never understood the point of that. I’ve always signed up for courses and entered competitions because I wanted to, not because I had to.

The same went for the Harvard Youth Lead The Change Conference that was held in January 2021. I learned of the workshop from my school, and it immediately piqued my interest. The workshop aimed to improve high schoolers’ leadership skills and teach them collaboration, public speaking, time management and self-knowledge. So, I submitted my application but, never in my wildest dreams did I expect to get in. But in the end, I was so glad that I applied because, as it came to be, I got in. I was amazed and ecstatic for the conference to begin as I had conducted thorough research beforehand. My expectations were high and, astoundingly enough, this programme exceeded every single one of them.

My Exemplary Experience

Right from the beginning, everyone was wonderfully supportive and an absolute pleasure to speak with. We started off by defining what it means to be a leader. Everyone had come in with their own ideas of what a leader does. So had I. I had thought of a leader as someone with a commanding and boss-like presence. But, through a few collaborative exercises and riveting discussions, most of us formulated new opinions. I personally learned that being a leader is more about collaboration and uniting a team rather than just ordering people around. This is just one of many examples of what the conference entailed. Learnings like these continued throughout the week. And I’m being completely candid when I say that this leadership development workshop was one of the most impactful ones I have ever attended.

I learned about many leadership, interpersonal, and public speaking skills through entertaining activities. The project groups we had been divided into were unquestionably one of the most effective undertakings of the entire conference. In these groups, we had to choose and understand a social issue we felt really passionate about and find solutions to address it. Our mentor was wonderfully supportive and I met incredible new people that I’m still in touch with. Initially, our group debated the global issue we were going to choose. Everyone presented amazing arguments and eventually we chose menstrual hygiene. Our project was named Project Abhya, and it involved providing individuals residing in rural areas with eco-friendly sanitary equipment. It’s our way of taking a stand and driving change, and it was provided to us by this workshop. Honestly, to even come with a viable solution for such an important issue was an honour and I was delighted to have worked on it.

The mentors conducted college panels, where we could gain clarity about college and applying for it by people who had already been through the anxiety-inducing process. It was definitely comforting and relieving to get answers. However, my favourite part of the conference was probably the introspective exercises that the mentors conducted. One time, we talked about our public and private narratives and how they may have changed during the pandemic. We were divided into breakout rooms with 1-2 other attendees and got to share our fears and thoughts. It was really interesting and comforting to see how the others felt and overall, it was an amazing exercise. On the last day, we even sent letters to our future selves talking about the personal and intellectual growth we had undergone.

The End

The ending of the workshop was undoubtedly bittersweet, but the connections we all made and the things we learned are irreplaceable. The Harvard Youth Lead The Change Conference was outstandingly effective and enjoyable. I’m enormously grateful that I signed up for it as it was quite a touching and informative experience. I feel like attending the Harvard YLC conference really helped me grow as a leader and I have definitely been able to use the skills instilled in me by the conference in multiple real-world scenarios. So, in my opinion, if you can, you should definitely apply for this conference.

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blog | 4min Read

Top Six Study Resources That High School Students Need To Know About

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Top Six Study Resources That High School Students Need To Know About

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Coming into high school can be extremely stressful. It feels like the workload increases a hundredfold and the pressure of assessments can cause great academic anxiety. It doesn’t matter if you’re in ninth grade or twelfth, the absolute confusion is prevalent. Questioning literally everything you’re doing is completely normal and nearly every single student goes through the same.

Finding your own way of doing things can be hard, but something that definitely helps is online resources. The internet is an amazing place, you can learn about anything in the world within the span of an hour and students can seriously use it to their advantage. It’s the Digital Age after all. Plus, e-learning has grown so much more popular, especially during the pandemic. So, we present you with a list of educational resources that every high school student needs to know about:

Khan Academy

Most of us have probably already used Khan Academy. It’s a non-profit educational organisation that provides students with online tools to educate themselves. It has comprehensive video lessons and other supplementary resources and exercises. It provides courses in subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, economics and more. You can learn about literally anything on the site and for free at that. Revision becomes much easier as you take external lessons outside of your classrooms, and are able to easily practice and apply the things you learn. You can learn at your own pace and personalize learning and it covers many subjects from grades K-12. High schoolers can even find free SAT practice questions and tests.

Duolingo

There are many cognitive benefits to learning a new language. It enhances memory, problem-solving skills, and intelligence. Duolingo is a language-learning website and app which provides a digital language proficiency assessment exam. It has enough materials for students to learn as much of a language. The bite-sized lessons are an effective and efficient way to learn a new language. It’s free of charge, though it does offer premium benefits for a fee. Learning with duolingo can be enjoyable and addictive. It gives fun exercises, through which you can earn points and level up.

Coursera

Doing courses online let’s you explore your limits and see what you really like. You can also revise and learn more about a subject in your syllabus to understand it fully. Coursera works with universities and other organisations to offer courses, degrees and certification in a variety of topics. You can be taught by professors from Ivy League universities and other renowned educational institutions like the University of Pennsylvania, Duke and Stanford. By taking these advanced courses, you can enjoy learning and pass your time in a productive way.

The Pomodoro Timer

If you need help focusing and managing your time in an efficient way, this technique may be perfect for you. The Pomodoro Timer Technique is a time management technique for people prone to procrastination. You can just just get started on a project without having to think about it too much. All that’s required is a timer and a to-do. The traditional technique is working in intervals of 25 minutes with a 3-5 minute break in between, and a longer, 10-15 minute break after 4 sessions (pomodoros). This is what makes the technique so effective and the tasks less daunting. One important aspect of this technique is that when you start your timer you have to direct your attention only to the task you’re doing. This helps combat distractions and break down complex projects into smaller, easier to handle pieces. It greatly increases productivity and gives you a sense of accomplishment, encouraging you to work more in the future.

SaveMyExams

This is a resource mostly for students studying in an international board and is incredibly helpful. The website has exam papers organised by topic and difficulty. Though it does cost money to unlock certain features of the website, it is definitely worth it to have it down as one of your favourite resources. It has topic questions and revision notes that let you hear up for your examinations and it lets you learn from the best. Entrusted by top schools like Eton, Winchester and St. Paul’s, this site puts together amazing resources that help students score brilliantly in their assessments.

Google Scholar

Until recently, this resource was not known about by many but it’s popularity has increased. It is a freely accessible research engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Using Google Scholar for research is extremely effective and saves time as it helps you readily locate academic sources.You can search about a wide variety of topics and materials including articles, books, research reports etc. The website offers a simple user interface and is open to the public. You can even save articles and citations you may want to use later. It is one of the best tools a student can use and has been wonderfully helpful for many.

All of these resources have aided so many people greatly. If you relate to these feelings of confusion and anxiety then you should definitely check them out to see if they could help you. It’s a great idea and comes highly recommended, so even going to the main website and reading about the resource would be a big first step.

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