This is Noorish Rizvi's Newsletter, a newsletter about my month-to-month progression!
To begin, hello! Thank you so much for opening up my newsletter, I’m ecstatic to have you here; witnessing my progression throughout life! So, who am I? To be honest, I don’t think I can answer this 100% I’m still learning this myself through my surroundings, so I’m going to try my best! Here we go: I’m a 15-year-old science enthusiast living in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. I’m interested (passionately) in BioTechnology where I hope to facilitate my own research in medical innovation. However, when I’m not out researching I love to read novels, and go on walks with my family!
Involvement 🔄
TKS
Comes September, and school officially begins, up until August, I assumed it was going to be simply another school year, working to finish assignments and studying. That is until I was scrolling one day, and found a program called TKS, from here my entire understanding of my capabilities changed.
TKS short for The Knowledge Society is a 10-month innovation program for teenagers to join and solve society’s biggest innovation problems stirring around us each day. With the help of my coaches shoutout to Damian Matheson and Ian Lockhart, I have learned so much through dedication in only the span of 3-Weeks. The written application process was extremely stimulating and really required me to think, when I submitted it, I told myself I was not getting in. Then, it came. The email that told me I was in, of course, I was elated, but this was only the first part; I needed to do an interview. I was petrified. I decided to prepare myself, but not so much because in life you don’t always get a chance to prepare(which is what TKS teaches), so I wanted to be able to think presently, and I did! So now, I am officially an innovation student at TKS, but getting in is just the first step. I can’t wait to dedicate myself to this great program, and make an impact throughout the next few months!
YAS
During the summer, I was accepted into an amazing program at OneChild called the Youth Advisory Squad (YAS). OneChild is the WORLD’S first youth empowerment organization working to advocate for the exploitation of children. I met for the first time with some of my fellow members from the squad for an introductory meeting, where we learned and talked about the importance of advocating on this issue being youth. I realized here that there is so much I do not understand about this topic and am excited to gain knowledge throughout the year!
STEAMEx
One day during the summer, my passion for STEAM, brought me to take action for the many children all over the world who do not have access to the education privileges I have. Due to this, I wondered if there are any organizations that helped children with exceptionalities form a passion in the ever-growing STEAM sector, I found that most were private institutions, but I wanted to be able to help youth-to-youth. So, I started my non-profit organization; STEAM Extended and began to assemble my team. So far, our plan is to assemble an ER (Exceptional Resources) Team along with the general teams, we want to find people fluent in sign language and being able to explain concepts to the visually impaired with described language. This is a project I am still working on, and it requires a lot more work to be able to put out for our intended audience, I am continually going to dedicate myself to this and make sure I will be able to come out with the most efficient way to help provide children with exceptionalities accessibility in knowledge.
Exploring 🌎
From TKS, my passion to explore grew exponentially, I started to look into topics such as Synthetic Biology and Artificial Intelligence, and I began reading academic papers, and although I cannot understand 100% I am improving day by day. My exploration in synthetic biology sparked a great interest in me, and so I began to write my first article. This is not like anything I have ever written, as it is a research article, not only explaining what synthetic biology is, but explaining my opinion on what is so far, and what I think it can become, as well as naming some applications that I believe synthetic biology can revolutionize. So far, I am still working on gaining expertise in not only the scientific aspects, but the philosophical aspects as well of synthetic biology, taking my inspiration from the great Aristotle on how technology imitates nature and how I think Synthetic Biology is changing this. Stay tuned, it’s coming out soon!
Networking 🗣️
From The Knowledge society, I learned about the heavy importance of building a network and forming strong relationships with people at an early stage. Engaging in braindates, which are sessions where students at TKS meet and discuss virtually anything to form solid bonds with each other. Not being the most socially outgoing, I have so far completed many braindates with fellow students (to which I was pleasantly surprised), and have gained so much knowledge and new perspectives with advice from my peers, shoutout to Florence Xu, and Danyelle Veillard! Forming these relationships allowed trust in professional relationships; forming more connections on my LinkedIn profile, which is major progress for me.
Mindsets 🧠
Finally, mindsets! Mindsets are one of the most beneficial things I have learned at TKS so far by learning how to implement unconventional thinking and high standards into my daily life. With this, I now hold myself more accountable than ever, and it has helped me grow in so many areas. With mindsets also comes mental health, and this September I have made sure to manage my time and not stress out. I do this by having a balance with school work, TKS, YAS and life outside. One of the best ways I have been using my time outside is by attending majlises. I am a Shia Muslim, and in the Islamic year Moharram is the very first month in which we mourn for Imam Hussain Ibn Ali (A.S). I look up to some of the greatest role models in Islam such as Prophet Mohammed (SAWW) and after him Imam Ali (AS); the greatest philosophers in my opinion who taught such amazing ways of life.
NEXT Steps 💪
With what I have done so far, it is important I set these next steps to climb the stairway of progress! My next steps are listed below:
Continue to do a diverse amount of Explores in TKS, which are modules designed to help us gain insight on a topic.
Have a consistent amount of braindates in TKS weekly to build a strong and growing network.
Finish my research article and write at least 2 more within August.
Implement the mindsets I have learned in my daily life.
Gather my team and send out applications for STEAMEx.
Stay tuned for my October Newsletter! Thank you once again for reading, and until October! Goodbye!