I am Aarav Chandra and I am a high school student in San Diego. I have a lot of interests in life ranging from neuroscience to golf, math to guitar and taekwondo to teaching. My philosophy in life so far has been to expose myself to as many interests as possible so I know what I enjoy doing. I have tried many things and
have a deep passion for some. One of my passions is to learn and then teach others what I have learned. I have been learning taekwondo since I was four years old! It is a big part of my life. I learned it for both self-defense and to compete at national and international levels. While I tried all forms of taekwondo, the Jahng Bong (bo staff) weapon became my favorite. I learned and practiced hard so I could perfect that weapon in its creative form. I recall practicing for hours a day for several days just to perfect one move!
Taekwondo taught me discipline and respect for others. Being a co-captain of a demo team in India in 2018 and taking the team to win silver at the European Championship was an amazing opportunity! Now, I teach younger children and get a lot of gratification from it! I have enjoyed teaching whether it is math to middle school students at San Diego or Latin to some of my classmates or reading and writing to students in rural India.
I have been fascinated about the brain for a long time and enjoy spending time learning more every day. I will talk more about it in my next blog. I remember my third-grade teacher actually brought a real brain (specimen) to the first day of class, telling us just how important that 3-pound organ is to our lives. I find the brain to be the most fascinating of all things. I also believe that our brains can do a lot more than we are able to see. Cracking that down one by one would be thrilling to me. It is with that interest in mind, I started this personal blog of mine. Here I would like to explore anything, and everything related to the brain. My long-term goal in life is to be able to find cures for brain disorders and help people suffering from diseases and disorders stemming from the brain.
Math is another love of mine! The subject is so intriguing to me that I cannot rest when I have an unsolved problem in mind. When I completed Calculus BC as a sophomore, I felt that I had to continue doing math in some form. While math competitions like AIME and ARML kept me challenged, I wanted a consistent involvement with the subject. That prompted me to take advanced courses like Number Theory and Linear Algebra. My wish is to apply math to neuroscience to make discoveries!
Community service has been a part of my life since my elementary school days. I recall volunteering for a hurricane disaster relief program to help many that lost homes in India, and that made me feel fortunate about
what I have. I helped co-found two organizations involved in tutoring and helping underprivileged children through education. When I see the joy on the faces of students I teach, it gives me a feeling of exhilaration!
It is my desire for learning that took me to 4 continents and 28 states within the US! Through these trips, I have learned about different cultures and philosophies, made many friends, and I hope to be able to share that with the people I teach!
0 comments on “A little bit about me”