The Beginning of my TRIP! by Sanjana Balaji

Hi! My name is Sanjana Balaji and I am a sophomore at Garnet Valley High School. While we have only had one week in the TRIP lab, I have gotten to become friends with my TRIP family and I am eagerly looking forward to the Saturday’s I get to spend with them! Science has been a huge passion of mine ever since I participated in a science fair in 1st grade with my alka-seltzer lava lamp. My 6 year old self found the reasoning behind why bubbles formed fascinating. I fell in love with the creation and explanation of aspects from the world around us. My passion only evolved and 9 years later, here I am!

At school, I am involved in a variety of different clubs and activities. I am on the Speech and Debate team where I participate in heated Public Forum arguments, and the HiQ team, which is an academic quiz competition (basically like Jeopardy). I am also in Science Olympiad where I participate in Anatomy and Physiology, Forensics, and sometimes chemistry events, as well as STEAM Buddies, where we teach STEAM related topics to elementary and middle schoolers. Additionally, I tutor students in chemistry and I am part of my school’s tennis team. I love rallying with my friends and teammates and I spend hours every summer and fall on the courts. My absolute favorite subjects in school are chemistry and psychology. Every moment of those classes is invigorating and the science of matter, brains, and behavior is something I wish to continue learning about. ​

In my time outside of school, I immerse myself in a lot of musical and creative outlets. I play the piano and have been for about 11 years. Teaching is also a huge passion of mine and I started teaching piano to kids in my neighborhood about a year ago. I am a Bharatanatyam (a type of Indian classical dance form) dancer and a carnatic music singer. I’ve been a dancer since I was 4 and my connection towards dance has grown significantly in the past few years. I find that I cannot go a day without dancing and I’ve come to love and appreciate the connection with my culture it provides.

My desire to learn more about fields of science was the driving force behind my application for TRIP. In addition to hands-on lab experience and the opportunity to conduct my own research, I wanted the guidance of amazing mentors in order to figure out if science is the career path I should take. TRIP offered all three! I am hoping my experience at TRIP will let me figure out exactly what path I want to take. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and I cannot wait to see what the future brings!!