Meet Poojitha and Rasika

We recently connected with Poojitha and Rasika and have shared our conversation below.

Poojitha and Rasika, so great to have you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our readers and so let’s jump right into one of our favorite topics – empathy. We think a lack of empathy is at the heart of so many issues the world is struggling with and so our hope is to contribute to an environment that fosters the development of empathy. Along those lines, we’d love to hear your thoughts around where your empathy comes from?

Poojitha and I started this club because we truly cared about being able to foster a love for public speaking within our community – creating a safe space where young people can express themselves freely, grow their confidence, and practice skills that they will take with them and use for the rest of their lives – so, Archers has meant a lot to us even before we officially started.

Once we did, however, one of the most valuable things we learned is that when you’re a mentor to someone, there’s a lot of trust that’s placed in you. As Poojitha and I got to see our members grow and begin to embrace their confidence more and more, we quickly realized how important it is to protect that trust.

Speaking in front of an audience is one of the most vulnerable things you can do. As we became figures of guidance for our members, we realized that a true sense of empathy and care for them is something that comes naturally. Seeing our members make an effort to step outside their comfort zone and try something new, and improve drastically as the months pass, is one of the most beautiful parts of running this club. It takes so much courage to grow and try new things in front of virtual strangers, and I feel that having the honor of our member’s trust is what most contributed to our love for Archers and its people. We wanted to give back as much encouragement and effort that we got from them.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Archers Gavel is simply a space created to allow young adults to come and improve their public speaking ability as well as confidence. In biweekly meetings, we host speeches, debates, open discussion, and creative activities all designed to encourage and improve our members’ self-esteem and confidence in their voice. We are hoping to expand the Gavel initiatives’ reach with more clubs led by passionate students. We are also planning more competitive opportunities and possibilities for recognition in the coming year.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

We truly believe that the unique combination of our confidence to network, shared empathy, and prioritization of our relationship is above all.

We have stood in a hall full of accomplished adults as two high schoolers, simply trying to give a speech. Of course, at times, it was deeply nerve-wracking, but we had no choice but to get up and talk to these incredible people about our cause and passion. We never once allowed ourselves to believe that we didn’t belong in these spaces, and we had blind faith in the fact that Archers was worth the initial discomfort. This is what led to so many unique and amazing opportunities for Archers Gavel and ourselves. For anyone starting off in their journey, believe in your cause and believe that you are capable of doing whatever it takes to make your goals a reality.

The reason for this confidence stems from our shared empathy for others as well as for each other. Throughout our journey, Rasika and I have met all kinds of people, those more far along their public speaking journey and those with no experience. Running an initiative like Archers forces you to put yourself in the shoes of those you serve. Through that experience, we can truly say that we understand and care for everyone of our members, as well as everyone we have met along this journey.

Most importantly, Rasika and I prioritize maintaining the lighthearted laughs and smiles in our friendship. As we have grown, we have realized that there is no other way to ensure that stable foundation than to truly work with each other and “roll with the punches” as they come. Archers is a passion project created by two people. Because the health of our relationship directly impacts the health of this club, we always make sure to put each other first and treat each other as friends rather than “Archers Gavel Co-Founders.”

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

We are always looking for people to collaborate with. With our plans for expansion, we would love to partner with and help others who want to push the Gavel or just the public speaking initiative among the youth. Through these partnerships and collaborations, we would love to host events and other activities to spread the confidence we have found through public speaking. Aside from that, we welcome anyone who wishes to voice their cause or journey to share that story with us and our members.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/archersgavel
• Instagram: @archersgavel

Image Credits

Veeramani Natarajan