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In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m excited to share how my experience with Curious Cardinals and the amazing female mentors I’ve had along the way have played a pivotal role in shaping who I am today. Startingmy Curious Cardinals journey as a timid eighth grader who lacked confidence, I’m now a senior in high school taking on the most challenging courses. Next fall, I will be attending Cornell where I plan to study Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
When I first arrived at Stanford, coding wasn't even on my radar. It seemed like a foreign language, and I had no plans of delving into it. During orientation week, I stumbled upon an introductory coding class, and something about it piqued my curiosity. I decided to give it a shot, and little did I know, it would change my life forever.
Ever wondered how Curious Cardinals got its name? In this week's newsletter, we're talking about just that!
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.
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.
On June 1st, 2020, Alec and I launched our very first website. Curious Cardinals was officially born! 🎉
Happy National Mentor Day!
In lower school, it starts with a check plus. In middle school, you transition to grades.
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!”
If you’ve ever had an email waiting in your inbox, begging for a reply, you know “just do it” is easier said than done. You press “snooze” and give yourself a free pass to reply later.
