March + April 2022 | Best, Bonisha
Whats up! This is my fifth issue of Best, Bonisha! My name is Bonisha Maitra and I am a 16-year-old innovator and entrepreneur.
Content in this Issue include:
Attending Berkeley MUN 🌐
Applying + Getting Accepted as a Bank of America Student Leader 🌠
Interning @ Youth Advocates For Change 👩💻
AP Exam Preperations 📁
Tinkering With Figma + CAD Softwares ⚒️
Creating A Pitch Deck For BART 💡
Now What? 🕰️
Attending Berkeley MUN
My school’s competitive Model UN team attended Berkeley MUN. UC Berkeley was where the first MUN conference took place ever in 1952, thus making it one of the most prestigious MUN conferences in the world.
My partner and I chose to be in UN Commission On Science And Technology For Development committee. Our topics were the Implications of Artificial Intelligence within the Healthcare System and Managing Data’s Effects on Vulnerable Communities as the Delegations of Columbia.
Our solutions consisted of the following; creating an AI system for detecting attack strategies from nations and make educated decisions about where to place healthcare workers, providing adequate care to PTSD related disorders through AI such as Chatbots, authorizing the implementation of a Mobile Health monitoring app to use telehealth services for people in developing nations, and receiving international funds from global actors and coalitions, within a newly suggested UN subcommittee.
Have abstract, unconventional ideas - even if it seems unrealistic.
My partner and I won second place in this competitive conference for our innovative solutions and issuing civilized conversations with delegations throughout the committee. My school, California High School, also achieved the Best Club Award!
Applying + Getting Accepted as a Bank of America Student Leader
A couple months ago I decided to apply as a Student Leader for Bank of America, which consists of receiving a paid internship over the summer. This program receives 1,200+ applications from high school juniors and seniors nationwide, and only 300 students get accepted - specifically five students per region.
I was almost not going to apply after looking at these statistics, with the unlikeliness of my acceptance into the program . My older sister told me to still apply, because it doesn’t hurt trying.
To my surprise, I was accepted as 1 of the 5 applicants that did get accepted within the San Francisco Bay Area region!
Even if you doubt your chances of something, still try. It may surprise you, for the best!
There will be a national student leader summit, usually taken place in Washington DC but due to COVID it will be virtually, for a week over the summer as an addition to the internship - for free! 😉
Be resilient and grateful for the experiences coming your way, regardless of circumstances.
Interning @ YA4C
I’m halfway into my paid internship at Youth Advocates For Change and things have been escalating on a rapid pace!
In the first IRL meeting, we discussed potential events to increase branding and also how to generate the most positive impact within society. Together, we discussed and fabricated an event with collaboration of Project Sundar, my organization, that would essentially be a Domestic Violence Towards Minorities Awareness Conference. This consists of having sponsorships, speakers, and vendors [if you are interested in being one of these, send me a message!].
AP Exam Preparations
As May comes closer, it’s what every Advanced Placement student in the US dreads - AP Exams. I have to prepare for five exams; AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP Computer Science, AP Language & Composition, and AP US History.
Does it sound scary and stressful? Yeah, it is. With close ones telling me to score a 5 or else it will be very bad, to my friends telling me about how scared they are for it - it seems like a life-or-death situation.
But is it really? In ten years, will I really care about what score I got on my AP US History exam. No.
Stop stressing so much, and just give it your best. Perfection « Growth
I was having a conversation with my older sister and she told me that our parents came to America because it’s a land of many opportunities. There are so many different pathways one could take to be successful, in whatever way success means to them. Don’t like learning in the traditional classroom setting? Drop out. Want to travel and learn? Take a gap year, or study abroad!
Don’t be short-sighted with convention pathways, be unconventional!
There are so many other ways to truly achieve your goals and aspirations aside from the conventional pathway which is going through a 4-year college system.
What do I want to do? I honestly don’t know. I want to make a change in the way our screwed up society works. Now, does it really matter what I score on my AP Language & Composition exam? Definitely not. So, I’ve accepted that it is what it is. I took a year-long class on it anyways at school, so I’ll review what I learned and just give it my all. Even though, yes, I am scared to take the exams… I won’t let it impact my mental health and desire + dream of my future. Wish me luck!
Tinkering With Figma + CAD Softwares
I was scrolling through articles on how to start prototyping and there were two options: prototyping for tangible items (i.E 3D Printing) or for non-tangible items (i.E App Design).
I decided I wanted to learn both! I gave myself a task to complete one prototype on Figma and one prototype using a CAD Software every alternating week. This gave me more motivation to genuinely learn using these tools and getting more and more comfortable using these tools every week.
I did this because I saw myself having extra time, and I used that time for unproductive things. Don’t get me wrong. I believe every human being needs that movie break or that nap - but, I felt like I was cutting myself too much time for those things. I decided to be more productive with a part of that time by engaging in these tools.
It doesn’t require too much brainpower, but more so creativity and visuals, something I was looking for. I needed a silver lining between studying and not doing anything, therefore I started getting into Figma designing and creating 3D CAD Models.
Creating A Pitch Deck For Bart
I have been a consistent passenger on the Bart station [Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California] for almost five years now.
In those five years, I noticed drastic flaws that created an unsanitary and unsafe environment to be a passenger.
Therefore, this month I decided to come up with a potential step towards securing a more safe and hygienic atmosphere.
I fabricated an app that uses IoT sensors and LED lights to control traffic flow as well as giving daily updates to passengers regarding safety within each car of the train. This ensures safety and better control over the sanitary system.
More logistics and planning is still under development - but after some more prototyping and figuring out potential loopholes, I will be sending over the finalized Slide Deck to the Principal Engineer of BART, Shrenik Shah.
Now What?
I plan on finishing up my AP Exams and prepping for the SAT, which is on June 4th. I also plan to get started on my internship at Bank of America as well as being a Youth Council Member at Character Lab! I’m also hoping to plan some trips to New York City, Paris, and more sometime over summer - whether it be for conferences or just to meet up with remote friends!
And that’s a wrap! See you all soon :-)
What is your CAD software of choice? I personally like Fusion and Shapr!