Meet Steven Kuzhipala

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Steven Kuzhipala. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Steven, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

While my height has sparked conversations amongst my friends, family, and those in my tight-knit community, over time I have realized that my height was simply a surface-level trait, a mask under a more complete me, a trait that only displayed my “face-value.”

Standing at a respectable 6′ 3″ often led to predictable questions. “Do you drink a lot of milk?” In reply came a simple “No” that only intensified the mystery, making people more curious. Despite offering a straightforward answer that my family is tall, I have found that many people still seemed to probe for a more remarkable explanation. But to me this simple answer meant a lot, since my family has always been a stronghold that I could rely on, where I could see myself without any fear of judgment, acting as a push into my self-driven nature that seemed to be exuberant in every new venture I undertook.
Despite the expectations that came with my height—advantages in sports, fitness, and aesthetics—I never felt drawn to those areas, which wasn’t taken lightly by my peers and especially not by my school coaches. They were constantly in my face, crying out, “You are putting your height to waste.” I couldn’t really envision myself as an athlete; I preferred being a valuable contributor in something that I enjoyed, rather in something that I forced myself to do. My interests were focussed in the field of STEM and community service. It wasn’t until I accepted this that I broke free from the expectations placed on me and realized that value to my community was so much more than my height.
My activities, particularly in the field of STEM reflect this nature of mine. While my height did help me break the ice in conversations and land various positions, I was determined to build a reputation based on more than just that.
My work at the international non-profit STEMz Learning was a testament to this commitment. What started out as a casual conversation at a get-together for my newly migrated family turned into a position for a cause that I enjoyed to the fullest. From creating engaging Computer Science curricula to explaining short algorithms in live lectures of more than 300+ younger students and creating eye-catching social media posts, I always felt proud of my work at the end of the day. The number of hours that I worked or the awards that I received didn’t excite me as much as a new team gathering where I could help others doing what I enjoyed. I wasn’t just the “tall guy with glasses” anymore, I was contributing to something much bigger.
However, this change in my outlook was not as quickly accepted in my close community who still seemed to limit my entire personality based on one singular physical trait. Yet taking advantage of opportunities through my church such as choral singing, secretarial roles, and even hosting a news club, enabled me to showcase my strengths beyond what others expected.
Nevertheless, I still felt that I could do more. My interest in STEM grew and diversified once I was exposed to the curriculum at my new school in the U.S. I found more opportunities whether this be through earning a spot on my high school’s Quiz Bowl team or my research in AI and computer hardware. As I delved deeper into these activities, I felt a profound sense of growth, realizing that there was no limit to how far I could stretch myself—not in height, but knowledge and the ability to thrive in novel situations.
As I continue to grow, my interests and actions evolve hand in hand, pushing me toward new opportunities and interactions. Each new venture enables me to break the barrier of my surface-level traits that society places on me, or some I inadvertently place on myself, ultimately helping me portray a truer image of myself, and even fond my purpose to strive for greatness.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Hello there! My name is Steven, and I am an HS senior in NorCal!
I am the head of social media at STEMz Learning (a nonprofit 501c), and I recently moved to the head of teaching position.
To answer the question on the most exciting part of working as a teacher at SZL is meeting new students with blooming minds to learn science! Every class that I have hosted, or any one of teachers have hosted, we always get feedback saying that the students appear to know some aspects of the curriculum we present in a higher level than for their grade! This motivates sus to work even further to produce more compelling curriculum for the students, as working with students with a passion and commitment to STEM makes it even easier for us teachers to find our push to work harder.

Another special part of SZL is, of course, the team that I lead! Both the new and old members have a wide range of talents, stories, and passions to present, all united under the branch of STEM. This community continually pushes me to continue to volunteer atroginsations like SZL in STEM education, despite any difficulties and constraints that may pop up ahead.

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

1. Clear and concise goal statements: Every leader, contributor, and student must have a clear goal in mind when completing any task or pursuing their goal. Without a clear, agreed-upon outcome or goal at hand, it is quite easy to not only lose sight of our plans for the future but also produce sub-optimal outcomes that hurt both the individual and community/product that one intends to serve. Having a clear goal in mind helped me focus and tailor my abilities to price fruitful outcomes.
2. Communication: I have to concede that I too am still a learner in this skill that is so essential while working both as an individual networking or even a large team. Learning to keep calm, process, and use silence as a tool rather than as a form of resistance or arrogance is key to one’s success in any field or career. Harnesing this skill helped me to not only settle disputes within my own team, but also leverage multiple suggestions and ideas that were bouncing around between my team members.
3. Passion: If you are doing volunteer work or performing any tasks without a completely sound mind a happy heart, your action will not reach its fullest benefits. I have rie dto be part of many clubs an dorginsations in my euctiaonal path, but I made sure to keep only a few to fully commit to, to not only respect the effort that other rpoepel put in to produce their ideas for other community, but to also ensure that I always dlieve my 100%.

To learn these skills, I recommend any beginner to watch, listen, and engage in any activities that may seem hard or difficult at first (in my case, interpersonal interaction was something I struggled with a lot), and make sure to learn more from a person than you teach.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

The most impactful thing that my parents *gave me was freedom and trust. Trusting to excel in the activities that I find interest in and leaving room for me to explore, fail, and grow without their ideas ever influencing my ideas or career was a gift I am always grateful for, and I wish that others may also be lucky enough to inherit that as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: Organisation: https://www.stemzlearning.org/
• Instagram: Personal ( @steven.biji); organisation( https://www.instagram.com/stemzlearning/#)
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/steven-kuzhipala-1aab662a1; https://www.linkedin.com/company/stemz-learning/posts/?feedView=all