Aashna Agrawal

The Compostasaurs is a student-led initiative whose mission is to guide our high school to inaugurate long-term composting/waste segregation systems to mitigate climate change. As team leader, I manage meeting schedules, assign tasks, organize our action plans, communicate with our advisors, and present to school faculty and administrators.

Perform wet-labs with the goal of cloning, isolating, and analyzing clones from the species Landoltia Punctata. Apply bioinformatics tools and online research to identify the function of the genes isolated in the clones. Published original research for clones in the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information).

Compete in the Academic Decathlon New Jersey regional and state competitions and in the National Academic Decathlon competition. Competitions include quizzes in science, math, music, literature, social science, economics, and art history; and planned and impromptu speeches, essays, and interviews.

Tutor the team members in science, math, and economics through teaching lessons; create review materials; and answer questions to prepare them for competitions. Collaborate with the other club officers regarding club outreach, promotion, and logistics.

Perform in all-female auditioned A Cappella group. Find arrangements of repertoire, rehearse songs, and refine performances. Perform at three choral concerts per year and fundraisers.

Study Hindustani Classical Music for the PJIM under Pandita Tripti Mukherjee and her students. Attend lessons to improve my intonation and musicality, learn Hindustani music theory, and prepare for seasonal performances.

Perform in Freshman Chorale and Concert Choir. Rehearse gospel, classical, and contemporary repertoires ahead of our four annual performances. Develop vocal skills and knowledge of music theory.

Serve my community through events such as packaging meals for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, teaching 2nd graders various life lessons regarding safety, and helping out at the school's biannual blood drive.

The nine-member BDC regroups for the spring and fall blood drives. Worked alongside team to recruit blood donors, create passes for students and faculty donors, design informative posters, and manage the sign-in process and food tables to ensure a smooth event.

Volunteer each week to properly reshelve recently returned books, reorganize shelves, and help visitors locate books.

Kathaki dancing performs stories taken from univeral human experiences and Indian mythology. Under Guru Padma Khanna, I have studied advanced choreography and diversified my performance roles for our standard routines. Honorable performances include Chamakte Sitaare (Shining Stars) in annual recital and Diwali Dance Fest at Walt Disney World. Currently a Level 3 Intermediate Part 1 Advanced Dancer.

Participated in University of Chicago selective summer course, Contagion: Infectious Agents & Diseases. Traced the origins of deadly epidemics, pandemics, and diseases. Studied molecular biology of bacteria and viruses, the complexities of the human immune system, and current and emerging treatments. Thrived in rigorous and immersive college lectures, hands-on laboratory work, and dry labs. Final group research project focused on Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome.