Figuring out what to do with your life can be difficult, especially when you’re busy at school, where you have to juggle advanced coursework, varsity sports, various clubs, and thinking about college. My name is Aditi Adhikari, and as a junior at Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills Michigan, I know this all too well: I’m the Vice President of Model UN, a member of the Varsity soccer team, an alto in the women’s audition choir, an ambassador for prospective students, part of a student leadership organization, and active in community service clubs. I also play the piano, am taking three AP classes, and write for a local magazine. Somewhere in there I must find time to do things I love, such as drawing, hiking, travelling, crafting, spending time with friends, watching comedies, and reading. With all this going on, it’s difficult for any girl to pull her thoughts together and find a passion or genuine interest! Thankfully though, when I received my Joyce Ivy scholarship last summer, I gained insight into what I want to do when it’s finally time to go to college.
I love neuroscience. And neurobiology. And books on psychology. And anything having to do with the brain, really! After attending my summer course at Brown University, I even bought The Human Brain Coloring Book, which is exactly what it sounds like: Heaven. (yes, I enjoy coloring in brain parts in my free time) But before I got the chance to take a neurology course this summer, I didn’t know about this side of myself. Before, neurology was labelled a vague “maybe” in my mental list of what to pursue in college; I knew a little about it, but never had the opportunity to pursue it. Thanks to Joyce Ivy, that did not stay the case forever, and before I knew it I was packing my bags for a three week stay in Providence, Rhode Island. There, I immersed myself in a college lifestyle by living in the dorms on campus, attending class, doing homework, studying for quizzes, and spending time with friends. At the end of the course, we gave research presentations on different brain functions or disorders, and we even got to hold real human and mouse brains! Our professors also showed us around a real research lab, and each week we worked with lab equipment. I had a wonderful time, and I want others to experience something similar.
Without the Joyce Ivy Foundation, I could not have attended Brain Basics: From Biology to Behavior at Brown University this summer, and it is because I am so grateful for that eye-opening experience that I want to continue working with Joyce Ivy. I’m looking forward to meeting and working with girls who share similar backgrounds, interests, and outlooks on life as me, just like I did last summer.
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