My Kahani…
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
-Maya Angelou
Ever since I was child, I’ve loved stories. While I relished hearing them, I also enjoyed creating them. As I grew older, this transformed into a passion for reading, writing, art and design. To me, stories are a way to not only process the world around us, but also a way to facilitate meaningful experiences (an idea I integrate into whatever I’m working on). Stories carry emotional weight; they tug at people’s heartstrings, challenging existing ideas and perspectives and contributing to the creation of a better world going forward.
Kahani (also spelled Kahaani, or कहानी, in Devanagari) is a Hindi word that translates to “story.” I chose it as the name for this blog for two reasons: 1) It’s a pretty word (in my opinion). 2) It captures exactly what this blog is — a collection of stories. Here, I post about my experiences as a student, capturing a variety of topics ranging from my hot takes on college admissions and our secondary education system to projects I’m working on in the STEM space. I also share some of my creative writing pieces, since short stories and poetry can serve as powerful ways to convey important messages.
And, I probably should have started off by introducing myself… but alas, it’s not too late! I’m Sareena, and I’m a college student from New Jersey, USA studying biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. I’m passionate about the intersection between medicine, engineering, and education. In the future, I aim to pursue a career as a physician-scientist, though I’m still figuring out what exactly that looks like. With that being said, thanks for checking out Kahani and I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog!
Oh, and one last thing — I sign these blogs with my pen name, Sara Devi 🙂
Q&A with Sareena
Q. Why are you studying biomedical engineering?
In middle school, I realized that I enjoyed biology — it was so interesting to learn about how all the machinery inside our body worked, whether it had to do with cells replicating or digestion. I knew that I liked the humanities and interacting with people, so I figured that blending these two parts of me — the scientific and the artistic — could lead to a career in medicine. Then, in high school, I saw that there are a lot of problems in medicine that are unsolved: for example, there are numerous diseases and illnesses with no cure, and many emerging therapeutics (and lab research) are unable to reach those that need them most. Thus, I believed that pursuing biomedical engineering would help me develop the mindset and thinking needed to find solutions to both problems.
Q. How does content creation fit in with your life as a student?
I’m still trying to define this for myself, but I’ve realized that documenting my experiences and what I’m learning — whether it’s in my classes, extracurriculars, or something I read — creates for some cool content 🙂
Q. What are your favorite books?
A really tough question lol, but a story that has stuck with me is When Breath Becomes Air, by Dr. Paul Kalanithi. I enjoy historical fiction, so from that genre, my favorite is The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.