Curious Cardinals Blog

Read 5 Lessons Audrey Learned From Her Parents

In honor of Global Parents' Day, I wanted to share a heartfelt tribute to my own parents - and to you, for entrusting your children to us.

My mom was inspired to create a summer that was productive, flexible, self-driven, and inspiring for me; gone were the days of simply sending me to summer camp.

As part of this month's Mentor Reflection series, we asked Priyanka Aiyer (Princeton, '23) to think back on her journey in discovering her LGBT+ identity, and share meaningful insights for parents navigating conversations on this topic with their children. Read her reflections below: 

The lull of summer boredom confined me to my room as the nerves of my upcoming sophomore year occupied my thoughts. As the COVID restrictions lessened going into the 2021 school year, I could no longer justify my procrastination and lack of motivation; I would be starting the school year in person without the grace period of trying out new things that freshman year offered. There were so many clubs and extracurriculars that I wanted to explore, but I lacked experience in many, and as a shy student, fear of failure and putting myself out there held me back from even trying. One club that I had always been interested in was MUN; as a student passionate about history, global relations, and research, it felt like the perfect intersection for all of my interests. However, my inadequate knowledge of politics and the rules of debate made me anxious to join a club I knew would be filled with outgoing and confident student members. When I expressed this to my sister, who was a Curious Cardinals mentor herself, she recommended that I find a mentor from Curious Cardinals, a program I had completed an online Cosmetic Chemistry class with that past spring. I was intrigued. But I assumed that this would look like finding a tutor who specializes in MUN and I wasn't sure if that's what I really wanted. However, after reading the profiles of these mentors and going through the detailed matching process, those assumptions were quickly dispelled. When looking at the mentor profiles recommended for me, I was shocked at how perfect they appeared as mentor matches for me. They shared qualities and passions with me. They were impressively well-rounded, accomplished, and not too much older in age than me. One of the women, Lydia, was described as someone who loved ancient history, classics, and languages and was studying at Harvard. Lydia sounded less like a tutor and more like an inspiration for whom I would want to be in 10 years.

For me, it started with avocado toast and ended with a race around the world. I am not kidding!! It was beyond challenging trying to figure out what to write about for my college essay. How could I distinguish myself in 2500 words that would essentially destroy or solidify my dream? As I struggled with where to begin and then how to end, the Hamilton lyrics "I am not going to miss my shot" played on autopilot in my head. Whatever I was going to construct had to be engaging, unique, soulful, poetic, creative, cool, layered, and brilliant. It also had to seamlessly reveal all of my best qualities without me sounding obnoxiously boastful or ridiculously humble. No pressure. No problem.

May is mental health month and it coincides with end of the academic year, which can be an extremely challenging and stressful time for students. We often hear from our students how grateful they are to have a mentor who were in their shoes recently and get the struggle they’re going through.

We asked Katie Fong (BA, Stanford ‘22), a Curious Cardinal Mentor, about her thoughts on the matter. She reflects back at the four things she wished her parents had known about her mental health in high school to support her better. Read her reflections below.

This week, I spoke to two moms who both emphasized that when they try to give their children advice, their kids “don’t listen to them!”