Shreya's English Blog

 My name, Shreya, means “auspicious” and is also another name for the Hindu goddess, Lakshmi. I have always loved my name because it is fairly easy to pronounce. The only mispronunciation of my name I have ever heard was Shriya instead of Shreya, which is honestly close enough.  However, one thing I don’t like as much about my name is how common it is! I have many friends named Shreya and we always joke about how it is funny we call our own name out to each other. In fact, I have a neighbor named Shreya and our other friend refers to us as “The Shreyas”. In addition, I have been classmates with more than one person named “Shreya” which can lead to some very confusing times. My classmate Shreya and I were talking about how whenever someone calls out the name, “Shreya”, we both assume it is for the other one and just don’t respond. Another time, our teacher told us all to write our names down on a little piece of paper so that she could draw one name for an activity. Both my cla...

  I cleared my throat and sat up straight. In front of me was a wide-eyed, excited girl. I was embarking on a new virtual adventure of tutoring math to a 4th grade student from Detroit schools. As we smiled and introduced ourselves, I caught a glimpse of her classroom: worn-out textbooks and old monitors. I felt a pit in my stomach as I thought about the new technology and supplies in my school district. “Educational disparity”, the phrase popped into my head. I heard of the issue before but now I was witnessing it. I kept thinking- just 25 miles between this young girl, Jada and I seemed to make all the difference.  I noticed Jada was struggling to grasp the concept of division. After explaining it to her with a resonating analogy, she displayed greater confidence in her abilities and began asking me to teach her more complex math.  Amazed to see such dedication, passion and intellectual curiosity from Jada, I encouraged her to set higher goals and dream beyond the horiz...