During November of 2019, Founders at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign hosted a two-day event in Chicago for startups and During the summer of 2019, I received an email that was recruiting students to work with SwaTaleem for a variety of roles. Because of my longstanding interest in gender issues and education, I reached out to Ananya hoping to learn a little bit more about the work that they do. Ananya happily told me about SwaTaleem, and I soon came aboard as a graphic designer for a social media project. However, over the next few months I came to realize that there was much more work being done by the team than I could of perceived before.
Every month I learn about different components that members are working on from writing research papers to marketing to working with iVenture on campus. Our little contributions also come to life as we hear stories about the work being done in India. Although the girls are so far from us at UIUC, we get to help through spreading the word and internalizing the problem, and a brighter future for them also means one for us and the world. What amazed me is that over the past ten months, I have heard the name SwaTaleem numerous times from people. Saying I am a part of their organization is always impressive, and it makes me really proud of what has come about through everyone’s diligent and passionate work.
Through working with SwaTaleem I have been able to work on my graphic design skills, write and edit papers, attend conferences, and meet a very dedicated and kind team. It has shown me more of how to truly make an impact on the world, and I hope to always find such mediums to give back and restore our faith in humanity.
About the Author: Anica Bhargava
Anica, class of 2020, is pursuing a degree in Computer Science + Anthropology at The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She joined SwaTaleem during the summer of 2019 after their mission coincided with a cause close to her heart. Since being a young girl, she has been fascinated with gender issues and passionate about education, and post graduation, she hopes to continue to work towards making a better and equal world so everyone can be their best.
