About us
Our Story
The four founders of this program, Shreya Musini, Padma Lakshminarasimhan, Pooja Mehta, and Trisha Jaishankar are rising seniors from Pleasanton, CA. In light of Covid-19, we were inspired to provide support for adolescents like us because there is a lack of focus on the emotional struggles teens are currently facing. Many teens/children are taking on adult responsibilities and are deprived of their daily norms to follow set safety regulations. Kids are being forced to balance various social, economic, and academic problems. Teens are facing mental health issues because we are being deprived of our usual interactions. Loneliness is the number one cause of suicide in teenagers. A recent study by Brigham Young University found that the loneliness teens have been facing can kill the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Due to this pandemic, the number of loneliness related suicides will rise. Our lives revolve around electronic devices and are causing us to lose face to face interactions we have with others. The change from seeing our peers in school, 7 hours a day, to suddenly self-isolating ourselves has taken an immense toll on our mental health. To combat this, we want to provide awareness and emphasis on the mental health of children and teen by providing a safe medium to find help and interact with others facing similar struggles.
*To learn about the founders, please access this page on a computer and hover over the pictures*
Hi!, I’m Trisha Jaishankar and I'm a rising senior at Amador Valley High School. Some of my hobbies include golfing, spending time with my friends/family, and going on boba runs. At school, I have taken various AP science classes as well as ROP classes like sports medicine. I aspire to become a doctor one day and pursue my passions in science. I would describe myself as an outgoing person and I love talking/meeting new people. I am the treasurer of the health and bioscience academy at my school as well as a youth board member of a local non-profit golf association. A fun fact about me is that I have volunteered at a different country each summer during my high school. Unfortunately, this as well as the many other activities I had planned for this summer is not possible due to COVID-19. This pandemic has caused me to not only feel deprived of everything I was looking forward to but also very lonely and stressed. As this is the case for most people, my friends and I decided to create this forum to emphasize the importance of mental health and provide awareness about it!
Hi! I am Shreya Musini, a rising senior from Foothill High School. I love to watch tv shows on Netflix, write stories in my free time, and hang out with my friends. I have been learning classical dance since I was 5 and participated in speaking clubs such as speech and debate and MUN. I love to write stories in my free time and it's an activity that calms my mind. Writing is a way I destress and a personal hobby since I was in 7th grade. In the future, I wish to share my stories and provide a way for people to escape reality for a point in time and enjoy themselves. I am also an officer in my club, HOSA. I have taken a variety of AP science courses such as chemistry and biology and have an affinity for the sciences. I want to pursue a career in the field of neuroscience in the future to help answer the perplexing questions we have about the brain. I've always been interested in the brain and its many functions, mostly being confused on how a small organ can control our life. It has been a personal interest of mine to learn more about the brain and discover more in the future. I want to use my knowledge from everything I've learned now to try and make a difference in my community, and I intend to do this through this organization. I hope to create a safe environment for people to express their feelings and seek the help they need. I love to make new friends and to help others and this influenced me to create this platform.
Hi, my name is Pooja Mehta and I’m a rising senior at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, California. I’m a hardworking student, interested in learning more about life sciences, and a compassionate leader for various cultural clubs. Along with this, I am a passionate dancer and teacher with the Mona Khan Company. In my free time, I enjoy dancing, spending time with friends and family, going on hikes, and taking lots of pictures. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of these activities have been sidelined, and I’ve taken the last couple of months to reflect on myself. I’ve recognized many, including myself, struggling to maintain their mental health in light of the pandemic which is why I joined my friends in creating this organization. My goal is to make mental health a priority and I hope to prevent mental illnesses by promoting a healthier lifestyle and self-care. In the near future, I aspire to pursue a career in the health field, and I look forward to meeting many more people along my journey.
Hi! My name is Padma Lakshminarasimhan and I’m a rising senior at Foothill High School. I enjoy learning about neuroscience and psychology, which pushed me to create a club at our school called HOSA. This is a competition based health sciences club. Throughout high school, I have taken various advanced science classes including AP Biology and AP Psychology. My goals for the future include further studies in psychology and neuroscience where I hope to either move forward in a research job setting or become a doctor. I I enjoy practicing and teaching martial arts, spending time with my friends and family, and baking. I would describe myself as an extrovert. I like to make new friends and work with new people. The social deprivation that this virus helped me come to the realization that other people may be facing the same problems. This pushed me to create this platform with my friends!