We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Poorna Prakash a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Poorna, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from a blend of personal experiences and the people around me. As I grew up, I slowly watched family members encounter some medical challenges and watched as they dealt with them with quiet determination. This taught me that strength lies in resilience rather than a quick fix. In my own journey—learning to find my way through somewhat complex research projects and then balancing leadership roles with personal commitments—I have had to learn to adapt and find solutions even when things feel like they are piling up. The mindset reinforces itself from the reminders of family and mentors who encourage me to see setbacks as moments of learning and growth. Resilience is about growing and believing.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Over the past few years, I have addressed pressing issues and empowered the next generation through technology and education. Last year I participated in a competition organized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration with the USDHHS. This was a competition in which youth were challenged to come up with innovative strategies that could be used to raise awareness of fentanyl overdoses. I was inspired to come up with an app— My Pill Guard. My Pill Guard is a mobile application prototype designed to improve pill safety and eliminate overdose incidents. The award I received for My Pill Guard as an honorable mention in a national competition was humbling, but it was just the beginning. After this, I was appointed a Youth Advisor at the Virginia Department of Health, allowing me to impact more people across the state. Now, I work with public health officials and educators in designing and structuring outreach campaigns by sharing the youth’s perspective.
In conjunction with this, with the Global Leaders of Fairfax County program, I work to bridge the gap in STEM as a part of SDG 5: Gender Equality. Too many girls and LGBTQIA+ members are without role models in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. To combat this issue, our team has begun organizing interactive events at underprivileged schools, which let the kids experience the fascination of STEM through experiments and conversations.
Each experience was a different moment. I learned that the barriers should be broken by inspiring change, one person at a time.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three important traits I have are flexibility, understanding, and analytical thinking. Flexibility has helped me move successfully through different tasks, from improving machine vision algorithms for fentanyl overdose safety to shaping STEM outreach events. Understanding helps me make sure my work matters to the people I’m trying to help. Analytical thinking connects these two traits together. Whether it’s through doing research in a lab or advice on policies for fair education, I look at issues with care and clarity. For those early in their journey, my advice is to actively develop qualities that you want to see in others. Develop empathy by listening to and understanding diverse perspectives and build resilience by viewing challenges as learning opportunities. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I believe establishing a balance between enhancing your strengths and working on your weaknesses is crucial. By concentrating on your strengths, you can excel and distinguish yourself in areas where you naturally thrive. On the other hand, dedicating time to improve your less-developed skills can help you grow and lead to a more versatile skill set. I think that this is the most important trait to be adaptable and achieve long-term success. For instance, when I co-founded GoSTEM, a youth-led organization aimed at promoting STEM awareness, my confidence in my technical expertise and enthusiasm for STEM enabled me to develop engaging activities and effective content for middle school students. Nonetheless, there are times when I become overly focused on details. To address this, I’ve been working on improving by checking in with myself at regular intervals and giving myself a chance to refocus on the bigger picture. This ensures that I can still maintain quality without getting caught up in the details. It’s important to recognize your natural talents while also stepping out of your comfort zone to address areas that need improvement, allowing you to remain effective and resilient in various situations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gostemservices.wixsite.com/gostem
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/poorna-prakash-90769a211/
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