For the majority of incoming freshmen, the first day of high school signifies a moment of fresh starts and untapped opportunities. However, for Urvi Raisinghani, a current sophomore, embarking on her freshman year also marked the beginning of her life in the United States. Having spent the greater part of her childhood in Singapore, she was born in the Philippines and has also called China home.
Urvi’s travels don’t stop there. When she was eight years old, she visited France. Having taken French classes since the first grade, she was able to speak with locals which led her to further fall in love with the language. Little did she know that her fondness for the language would have a wider impact when continuing to take French classes here at Stevenson.
The perfect opportunity came in the form of a blossoming partnership between Stevenson’s National Honor Society and the Angaza Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging the digital gap in rural African schools. Urvi, along with her peers in her French class, seized the opportunity to contribute to this cause. They worked with a school in Congo where students were being introduced to technology.
As she delved into this project, she gained a new understanding and appreciation that technology is not always readily available to students.
“It shows you how globally everybody has different experiences and we are so grateful to be taught about technology at Stevenson where there are so many opportunities and learning. You get a whole different viewpoint looking at the lens of these students in Africa who are just being introduced to technology and this opened up my perspective and my understanding of our society.”
Urvi and her classmates’ collaborative effort involved creating slideshow topics - in French - spanning from introductory lessons on Google Docs to more complex subjects such as cybersecurity and responsible technology usage.
Reflecting on her participation in teaching students in Congo about technology, Urvi finds it both heartwarming and rewarding. She highlights the project's success by witnessing the impact it has on the students - their excitement and visible learning. Furthermore, Urvi underscores the importance of taking opportunities to assist those in need.
“We can use the skills we have to teach people of different backgrounds - that is the biggest thing I’ve learned. If anybody is in need of help or needs to learn something and we know how to do that we should definitely reach out and help these people. We are so lucky and have so many opportunities and with all these advantages we are given in our life, we should use that to help the people that really need it.”