When I taught Saira in Identity & Prejudice last summer, I knew she was brilliant—but I had no idea how many more chances I’d have to see that brilliance manifest itself! Saira is currently a marketing intern with Kaleidoscope, and I am continually blown away by her innate creative abilities, which have completely transformed our social media presence. I’m so grateful to have Saira on our team!
Where Saira is now: Junior at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware. She’s co-chair on her school’s wellness board, founder of the “Little Hill-ers” club (organizing events for younger students at her school), co-leader of the Diversity Club, and captain of the volleyball team.
A class she’s loving: “I’m currently taking an elective about writing memoirs. We read famous memoirs and then try writing them ourselves! Right now, we’re working on mini love stories: they’re 100 words and the goal is to capture a moment—it doesn’t even have to be romantic.”
Kaleidoscope affiliations: Summer ‘21 Identity & Prejudice student, Summer ‘22 Peak Performance student, current Marketing Intern (started Summer ‘22)
What made Saira want to come back to Kaleidoscope for a second summer: “Last summer, when I was in Identity and Prejudice, I would literally look forward to class every day. I found it so interesting to learn that you can change your personality, that we can actually change our biases towards people. My school has Diversity Day every month, and the social justice board always talks about how there are things woven into us that we can’t change, but we can work on them. This class gave me a whole new perspective on that. I just really liked having something different from my regular school experience. Kaleidoscope doesn’t just skim the surface of ideas and topics, they dissect beyond the headlines and provide real value to my education…and I wanted to have that experience again!”
…and what made her want to come back for an internship: “I was talking to Sarah [Kaleidoscope’s founder] about coming back for Peak Performance, and I think she asked me for feedback on something. I gave her an answer, and she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really good—I want you to talk to Sabrina [teacher and marketing employee]. Maybe you can work with her on social media.’ So then Sabrina told me that [Kaleidoscope] values things that are relevant and important in her life, and she felt like she was doing things that were meaningful to her. We had this whole conversation about parents and pressure, and I felt like I had just talked to a family member. I was kind of going through a struggle: I didn't know if I should pursue medical programs [during Summer ‘22], which I had already done. [Talking to Sabrina] helped me realize that there's so many more things to do, so many more options. That’s one reason I love Kaleidoscope—you always emphasize that high school doesn’t teach us everything that there is to do in the world. So overall, I came back because I felt like the community was so caring.”
A Kaleidoscope skill Saira still uses: “I have this slideshow from Peak Performance that I use whenever I study—Jessie [Peak Performance teacher] laid it out perfectly. There are tons of different techniques for effective studying, but the main thing I took away is that if you put something encouraging in your study space, it can make you feel more motivated when things get hard. [In psychology, this is called an enriched environment.] So I hung up this poster with my name on it from volleyball last year—everyone went around in a circle and wrote nice things [on each other’s posters]. Mine says things like ‘You're such a hard worker,’ ‘I see great things in your future,’ ‘I love your positive energy’...So if it's ever super late at night, and I'm like, ‘I just can't do this physics homework,’ I'll look at it and think, ‘These people have faith in me, so I can keep going.’ I use this technique all the time, and it doesn't take any effort. I just look up at my wall and see it. I had [the poster] hidden away in my drawer, and I didn't realize the true value of it until I took Peak Performance.”
A risk she’s currently taking: “Pursuing this [marketing] internship with Kaleidoscope! I didn't even see it coming, but the opportunity just presented itself. This is kind of cliché, but I feel like this work is really meant for me. I don’t have to tell myself, ‘Oh, you have to sit down and do this’—I don’t even put the work in my Notes app. I just sit at my laptop whenever I have time, and it’s so much fun to make Instagram content and give feedback to the team. But it’s definitely out of my comfort zone, because [before the internship] I kind of thought that I had my life laid out for me based on my family, everything that I've been taught since I was little. My parents have this video of me when I was four years old saying I wanted to be a pediatrician, and they always say, “You have to fulfill the dreams your little-kid self had!” But I feel like my true self has always just wanted to be doing something that I'm passionate about, and that's what I'm doing with Kaleidoscope. So [your path] doesn’t have to stay the same forever.”
Her reading recommendation: The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls. “It was summer reading for school, but it didn’t feel like summer reading. I couldn’t put it down. [Walls] crafts her memories with such detail and passion, and she went through so many hardships and still came out successful. The story was so inspiring, and it made me realize that I need to take a step back. It helped me recognize my privilege and see that people work towards success from so many different places.”
Why Saira thinks high school students should get involved with Kaleidoscope: “If you want to feel like you're part of a community that cares about you specifically…if you want to pursue an educational experience that is actually valuable to your life...if you feel like it's hard to find motivation to continue throughout the school year without having the chance to express your passions or your capabilities…if you want to do fulfilling work…if you want to learn something new…then you should get involved with Kaleidoscope!”
Saira’s advice to her fellow high school students: “This year, I decided to take Studio Art, which is an elective at my school. It takes up a lot of my free periods, and at first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it, but I ended up finding it really valuable. My art teacher said to me a few days ago, ‘You don't always have to get everything perfect right away.’ And that made me feel like I could let go: I started doing whatever I wanted, and I realized I could always change it afterwards. So my advice would just be to step out of your comfort zone. Things aren’t set in stone, and you don’t have to do one thing for your entire life. You can follow multiple paths!”