Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.

 A: “My name is Kriya Jaiganesh, and I’m fourteen years old.” 

Q: What has been your favorite part about this school year?

A: “My favorite part has probably been being able to get extra sleep and time out of school. Especially for teenagers, I think it’s really important to sleep well, even if it’s just that extra hour or two. Also, a lot of my teachers let us out of class up to an hour early (I feel like this is more for their mental health than ours). Because of this, I have much more free time than I’d have if school was in-person. I usually use this to go outside and get some fresh air, study or finish up homework, or to just get off of screens and relax.”  

Q: What do you miss about in-person, other than seeing your friends?

A: “One thing I definitely miss is meeting new people, whether it be other students or teachers. If school was in person, by this time I would’ve gotten to know more people and developed bonds with my teachers. However, in an online setting, I don’t even know what any of the other students look like! And though teachers definitely put us in breakout rooms in valid attempts to get us to socialize, this usually ends in me attempting to stimulate a conversation, and then everyone sitting in awkward, antisocial silence for the rest of the time.”  

Q: What is one goal you have for this year?

A: “One goal I have for this year is to not overexert myself, and still go to bed feeling satisfied. Instead of joining eighty different clubs and stressing myself out, I just joined the ones I’m interested in. I’ve also been forcing myself to finish my work before doing anything fun, which can be very challenging if you’re a master at procrastination like I am. But what I found really helps is getting off of screens, and spending free time doing something I enjoy, or something that relaxes me.” 

Q: What is your favorite class and why?

A: “My favorite class would probably be English. The teacher, Ms. Harrison, is very kind and she always gives us icebreakers and creates a warm environment. Her attempts to get the students to actually unmute themselves and speak are always a great start to my day (spoiler alert: her attempts failed). But in general, I’ve always liked reading and writing, ever since first grade when I wrote a STUNNING biography consisting of a substantial two pages, and, in my opinion, way too much praise in return.”  

Q: What hobbies and sports do you do? 

A: “I play piano, percussion and I enjoy singing as well. I’m going to run track and field in the spring (hopefully the Covid cases subside by then). Some things I enjoy doing are reading, drawing, composing on the piano and most of all, eating and sleeping.”