We recently connected with Sridevi and have shared our conversation below.
Sridevi, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My grandmother is where I get my resilence. She always saw something different in me, something magical. Though, I never believed in magic. As I would always scoff after watching Winx Club with my friends. However, my grandmother encouraged my need for bravery and individuality to grow through her stories of hardship, just like magic. She entrusted me with the value of individuality and independence that she self-nurtured as the first educated female in her village and as a widow who raised four young children to success. Driven to share the land of her stories, my grandmother brought me to India in middle school. This trip was what changed the trajectory of my life, convincing me to devote my career to the idea of rural medicine and serving the underserved. Her passion, success, and dedication has continously inspired me in all that I do, aligning me with the values and work ethic that have gotten me to where I am today: a passionate direct medical student!
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?
Hello! My name is Sridevi Swaminathan, and I am a current undergraduate student at the University of Akron. I am currently an early acceptee into the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine class that enters in 2028. A current endeavor that has thrown me into the spotlight on numerous amount of occasions is my 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Make Today Matter. I founded “Make Today Matter” with the intention to relieve health inequities dear to me at the age of twelve during the pandemic, but it began to become much larger than that.
Over the years, I have led numerous initiatives aimed at supporting diverse communities, addressing critical healthcare needs, and promoting educational equity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I funded an oxygen generator for a Indian hospital in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, ensuring that patients had access to life-saving respiratory support. I spearheaded an environmental initiative by adopting a road in Troy, promoting sustainability and community cleanliness. My team and I clean this road at least three times a year. To bridge the digital divide, I organized the donation of over 200 laptops and uniforms to rural Indian students, empowering them with the tools necessary for academic success.
Recognizing the hardships faced by displaced individuals, I coordinated a clothing and hygiene products drive in my community for Ukrainian refugees, providing essential supplies to families in need. My commitment to healthcare access led me to organize and run three American Red Cross blood drives, helping address the ongoing demand for blood donations. Additionally, I led an eyeglass drive that collected over 200 pairs for Americans lacking equitable access to vision care.
Understanding the challenges and stigmas faced by visually impaired orphans in India, I facilitated the donation of over 300 smart sticks equipped with advanced sensors to enhance their mobility and independence. Furthermore, I championed menstrual health awareness by distributing more than 10,000 sanitary pads to rural Indian students and educating these students on the importance of sexual health, ensuring that young girls could continue their education without barriers.
These initiatives have reflected my dedication to global health, educational equity, and humanitarian service—values that continue to drive my work and aspirations. Furthermore, these projects have embodied my commitment to equal opportunity and peace, with my work here truly molding my perspective into a humanistic approach. My most meaningful experience with Make Today Matter was when I ran the smart-stick campaign. Here, I focused on raising money to donate “Smart Sticks,” allowing orphaned visually-impaired students to navigate roads independently. I ran in-person educational sessions for students to understand the stick’s technology, with my team and I making manual adjustments for students who required them. The joy and belonging I felt during these sessions emboldened me as I experienced the power of changing lives. I recently visited and donated more smart sticks to the same school this past August, and my experience was incredibly uplifting. To conclude, MTM has changed my life, and I cannot wait for it to continue changing the lives of others’ lives who need it the most!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that were the most impactful in my journey were: Passion, Positivity, and Dedication. These three truly drive me in all aspects and facets of life. Being passionate, was the force that allowed me to get involved within my community. My dedication allowed me to continue this involvement. My positivity allowed in bringing my joy for my work in leadership, professional, and service environments. Thus making every experience I involve in a positive experience! This triage of traits is what has fueld my journey in service and medicine to the extent that it has become! Some advice I would give for people who want to improve on these three traits is to just be open-minded. By being open-minded we can change repetitive behaviors which lead to imrpoving on these three traits. Being open-minded especially leaves room for a positive mindset. Additonally, finding things you are interested in, whether it be baking cheescakes or reading books, these interests could foster these three traist which you can grow through driven action.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
People would flock to our house every day to watch the big scene. As a toddler living in India, I had an affinity for taking toys apart and putting them back together, with the precision of a surgeon, further becoming a neighborhood celebrity known as the “building toddler.” This hobby of understanding how processes work carried with me as I entered high school, my dedication to understanding difficult processes has allowed me to achieve excellence in everything I put my mind to, especially through my hobbies as I’ve dedicated myself to reaching better swim techniques as a varsity-swimmer, analyzing complex music as a Carnatic performer, and pursuing difficult research, even publishing two articles in the National Institute of Medicine. These pursuits have taught me the importance of discipline and resilience needed throughout life.
Although understanding processes isn’t just a pursuit, they are outlets as well, grounding me during times of stress. Thus, whenever I face academic and personal pressures, my aspiration to become a rural health physician always shines through and keeps me focused. I thus aim to maintain my well-being with a positive mindset that can be achieved through outlets such as community service, exploring new hiking trails, swimming 500-meter sets, and listening to Taylor Swift. Through my experiences, I’ve learned that managing pressure by being mindful and open is needed to become resilient professionally and personally, thus shaping me for a strong path forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://maketodaymatter.wixsite.com/matter
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sridevi-swaminathan-33b563229
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb2Wo1gCPmmHR8Y5MRcI4_w
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