Ambassador Program 2022 – Ananya Bandaru

I really enjoyed the Empower and Help Ambassador Program in 2021 and was looking forward to doing it again this year. Being isolated throughout the pandemic, I lost some social skills. This program helped me get through it. This year’s program was different than last year’s, but it was a new thing to try. I worked on two main projects this summer, holiday cards for the gift shop and a fundraiser. Although the holiday cards were easy, the fundraiser was a more significant challenge. I partnered with another ambassador Veeksha on the fundraiser. We worked on starting a scholarship fund for youths who cannot afford leadership and empowerment classes like this one. At first, it was hard to get donations from people, but we managed to get through it by taking an active approach – talking face to face with people instead of a passive approach –  sending messages via text or email. This was key for me in growing my social skills. This program once again helped me expand my knowledge of things I did not know about.