Having moved to California from Chennai, 15-year-old Varsha Subramanyam has now been elected as the teen commissioner of Cupertino, California. A student of Monta Vista High school, Varsha is about to enter her tenth grade, but is already a great inspiration to young NRI girls in the USA! Realising the problems faced by youngsters in Cupertino, the teenager applied for the position through her school. After several processes like written application and test, letters of recommendation and personal interview, she was chosen by the Mayor of the city. “This was a new experience for me since I have never applied for something that required a recommendation letter. It was also challenging for me to go into an interview with the Mayor of Cupertino,” shares Varsha. As teen commissioner, apart from meeting with the Mayor to discuss various issues faced by teenagers, Varsha’s focus is to reduce the students’ stress levels in schools. The team of commissioners working under the Mayor are also in-charge of conducting cultural programmes, hackathons and are part of discussions with the Mayors of other cities. My prime focus is to conduct many educational programmes for children with special needs. I feel they are being neglected and they don’t get to enjoy the privileges the other students get during their school years. I would also like to organise several ‘anti-stress’ and ‘time management’ workshops for school- goers,” shares Varsha. “One major issue for youth is that they cannot handle stress. While we can’t ask to lower schoolwork, we can help teens by planning stress-relieving events to educate about the importance of sleep and quality time for leisure,” she adds. Also, being nominated as one of the Biology tutors in her school, the influencer shares about middling her school and social life. She says, “I find that staying organised and writing down everything that you need to get done, in a planner helps me balance. Time management is very important; you have to use the given time wisely and be able to work under pressure.” Rooted with an Indian background, Varsha talks about the education system in the country saying, “The students in India are smart and competitive, but I feel that most students do not have any time to think outside of school and homework and exams. Considering that the Indian subcontinent has the largest youth population in the world, they can be utilised very well in uplifting our society. Programmes similar to ‘Teen Commissions’ can be introduced in the Indian cities. It would encourage youth to give back to their society.” Stating that her position is a privilege, Varsha, who aims for a career in the field of Bio Technology, concludes by saying, “It feels amazing to be such a big influence for the city. As a student youth representative, I look forward to use the influence to work well and change the lives of the Cupertino youth for the better.”

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