Sachin Raghavendran ’17 (second from left) receives the Aapo Deepo Brava Award at the Cary Diwali celebration at Koka Booth Amphitheater.
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Sachin Raghavendran ’17
Sachin Raghavendran ’17 won the Aapo Deepo Bhava award for his community service efforts. The award, which translates as “Be a light unto yourself,” is awarded by Cary Diwali and recognizes youth who have made an outstanding contribution in the community or excelled in education or cultural arts. Raghavendran was awarded second place for his leadership in organizing various events to raise money for a nonprofit literacy organization, Pratham.
The summer before his sophomore year, Raghavendran and his family traveled to India to visit relatives and help out in rural schools. He remembers cows, pigs, and rubble in small towns and how school was “an island of solace in the sea of despair, poverty and challenges” for the school children he met. When he saw enthusiastic children lining up for assembly in front of their school, “I decided that I would make a conscious effort to educate poor people in India.”
On his work with Pratham, and why community service is so important to him.
Pratham is a not-for-profit organization that helps educate illiterate children in India. I have been involved in Pratham as a youth volunteer since 9th grade, and have volunteered annually at the Pratham NC RTP gala, where awareness is raised for this organization.
The events I have worked on are tied to my hometown. I have family and friends there who work with me to organize a math competition every year where the funds are given to Pratham. The first year, we raised $1,500, and last year, we raised over $7,000. This large jump makes me proud, as it shows how much work my team of volunteers and I have had to put in over the past two years.
If the youth of today cannot work together to fix problems in developing countries, such as the lack of education, when they turn into adults, what does that portend for our world?
Hometown: Cary
Favorite classes at NCSSM: Mr. Rash’s Combinatorics and Game Theory class
Dream job: No idea
Best tip for avoiding procrastination: Do stuff you enjoy early.
What do you do for stress relief? Go to the gym.
Favorite food: Pasta
What book are you reading right now? John Carter of Mars