It's just the prequel
A wrap on my year at TKS, finishing the Moonshot, and preparing for the real world
Sooo… it’s been a while. But here we are. Another newsletter, with an end to one thing but the start to another. Let’s start off with the month of May, which brought along a bunch of cool projects, the first of which is the…
Moonshot
In my last newsletter (which was a while ago 😬, unfortunately), we had won the People’s Choice and Overall Best under our director, Steven Ritchie. To recap, the Moonshot is supposed to be an ambitious project, in which you’re literally shooting for the Moon to provide a solution to a big problem. These could even be solutions that are not possible yet in today’s world, but are feasible in the long run and can be implemented in the coming years. For our Moonshot, I think the time limit was 3 years, so our solution had to be such that the technology would be possible within the next three years.
Our group was looking into solving the plastic pollution pandemic with bio-based plastic. And, yes, I call plastic pollution a ‘pandemic’ because we are literally. surrounded. by. plastic. Every time you drink from a bottle, that is 120,000 particles of plastic entering your system. What’s crazy is that plastic has even been found in the human placenta - an area of the body that is so sensitive growing a new baby, that the introduction of plastic there can cause long term irreversible effects on the baby.
Because it’s unrealistic to just completely stop use of plastic, our shot to the moon was to create a type of plastic that is biodegradable and safe for the environment. Then came in seaweed-based bioplastic. This is a plastic we can form by extracting polymers from seaweed, which are chains of atoms that certain materials such as plastics or fabrics are made up of, and then arranging them in certain patterns to create different characteristics in our plastic. For example, if you desire an opaque vs transparent plastic, durable vs disposable, waterproof or not, etc. You would be able to create all of these attributes all with seaweed.
You may ask: why seaweed? Seaweed is a very durable and fast growing crop, meaning it can be grown in waters all around the world without the need for much care or pesticides, and in big quantities. Through this, we would also be supporting local seaweed farmers and providing jobs to underrepresented communities such as those in Indonesia, which would benefit from all the jobs an increase in seaweed farming would promote for both men, but also women who can then support their families. On the scientific side, seaweed is a type of algae, and different types of these algae, such as red, brown and blue could really help us to produce different types of bioplastic. For example, red algae is a source for agar, which is a jellylike substance and could help us to create plastic films to coat containers in a water and oil proof coating like you see often in your takeout food containers.
Coming back to the competition and the Moonshot Finals, which we advanced to after our team was picked from our director, we had to present across all of the TKS cohorts’ chosen teams. Minh Nguyen was our presenter, and first we were put into three seperate breakout rooms which each contained 4-5 presentation groups, from where one final group was chosen based on judges. Our group got selected from our breakout room because of my group members’ abilities to answer the judges’ questions with much detail and precision, along with knowledge on every question, and because our presentation was quite in depth as well. In the final Finals, there were three groups, the ones that were chosen from each breakout room, from which we were one group as well. So, overall, we came second in TKS Moonshot.
But, you know what, that achievement doesn’t really matter. I mean yes, it does, of course because it means we had our idea down and presented in a way where our company could actually be successful and become a real life thing. All our hard work and commitment was able to be acknowledged by others, and that felt good. However, at the end of the day, this rank doesn’t matter because people that didn’t win a rank could still make very successful companies, and people that did might not even do that. For example, I haven’t worked on the seaweed plastic idea after Moonshot, so I don’t know how likely this company is to start, but I’m 1000% sure someone else is out there who didn’t rank top 3 but is working and willing to make their Moonshot become a reality. You know what, though - I think our group idea was killer, and I’m definitely going to try and work in a lab to see if this might actually be possible.
Again, here are the deliverables if you wish to take a deeper look into our project, which we definitely updated since our cohort Moonshot presentation to the Finals one: Presentation, Video, Website, Article, and One Pager.
Wrapping Up TKS
feat. my Portfolio (so far) - https://tks.life/profile/shreya.sharma#about
I know there’s a lot to improve, don’t come at me, but please do lmk what I can do better :D
My year at TKS was quite successful. For those that are new this issue, TKS, or The Knowledge Society, was a program that I was in for the last year which is basically an accelerator for growth for ambitious teens. Learning how to network, working on real world problems with big companies such as Microsoft and Google, etc. were just some of the highlights. For me, I’d say it was a successful year only because I have improved so much and really view the world from a different lens. For example, the last two months were extremely busy for me, so I wasn’t able to get much done in terms of personal projects, but I was really hoping for the day I could publish the new newsletter issue, or connect with more individuals, or even just to work more on Space Tech. So, I don’t think I’ll ever take what I have for granted, but instead find that drive to always achieve more.
All of the directors were always there to reach out to for help, and one thing I LOVE is that they don’t sugarcoat anything. The real world won’t be like school where your teacher finds ways to improve your marks or finds good things about your presentation just because there needs to be something good to say. Instead, the real world finds every chance to push you down and squash your idea, so it is so important and vital to have such mentors with you that will really tell you every single thing that you need to improve so that you could be the best version of yourself.
Other than that, the projects I worked on were also those that I’d only dream of, but got to achieve in real life. I worked on improving revenue for Google, and sustainable scaling AI for Microsoft. On the personal side, I worked on theoretical ideas such as extracting energy from black holes, and even built a magnetic rocket launcher that rockets could use instead of fuel. One thing I would say though, as many of you have probably read the infamous Reddit article about TKS, is that most of what you achieve at TKS is based on how much time and effort you put in. TKS only tells you all the things you should be doing, but you yourself have to be the one to actually do those activities and and form those connections or make the opportunities for yourself. Of course, TKS makes it a bit easier to get into international comps and land big projects because companies often partner with them, but most of your achievements are really yours. However, with that said, I would still do TKS again, because I know all the stuff I’ve done wouldn’t have happened had it not been for TKS.
Not only that, but I’ve also made some great friends along the way which I wouldn't have if I didn’t take this opportunity. And not just any friends, but ambitious ones that I can talk to about real world problems and find inspiration from. School friends don’t talk about investing, or 10X growth, or anything else that will really help you to be successful in the long run. Even if they do, it might be 1 person in 10 people that do, but in TKS, everyone is that way.
So a moment of reflection: I definitely could’ve achieved twice as much as I did during my year, but I think based on the time I had, I did a decent job. Also considering this life of working on projects and networking was completely new for me, I had small but steady growth, which could also have been accelerated. There’s still time, though, because this was the beginning from an end, and there’s only ways to go from here, and I can’t wait to see what I accomplish, because all the habits I built in the last 10 months definitely are not going to go to waste. And that is a promise I’m making to myself.
Assistant Researcher
Starting off this section, I cannot stress the importance of outreach enough. Everything. happens. with. outreach. You want a job? Find a reference. You want to work in a lab? Find a reference. You want to start a business? Find customers. We live in a people world. Humans literally control most of our day to day. So, just having good connections and even just having people know you is so important because that’s how you are recognized and land yourself at places you want to be at. For me, an opportunity presented itself also through an outreach session.
Back in December 2023, I had a call with a phD professor, who’d even done some work at Harvard, and really connected well. We were able to talk about lots of growth and books I should read for growth and getting my mind to think in that way, and we have a good session. After that, as a really bad mistake, I made no effort to connect back with her despite having such a good conversation.
One day, months down the line, I thought to myself - why haven’t I reached back out to her? There was no answer that I could give myself. So, that day, I reached back out to her. And guess what - not only did I connect with her after months, but she needed an assistant to help out with a research article she and another professor had been working on. So of course I agreed!
Currently, I work to annotate a bunch of posts about people using weightless drugs in order to help research the unknown side effects which weightless and other GLP-1 receptor drugs can have on the human body. For this, I’ll be mentioned in the acknowledgement section of a research paper. And although that may not be a HUGE accomplishment, I will officially have my name written on a legit research paper, which is big enough for me. Plus, I get to learn about the ins and outs of research IRL because it’s a lot tedious than the research I’ve done at school. Here, months or years are spent researching and finding the correct info. I’ve been annotating myself for months, and we’re nowhere close to being done because there are always new and improved technologies that can help make the research better. Either way, I love being a part of something real. Not for school and grades, but for the world.
Life
Like I promised, I’ll be going over some prom stuff. And some other things that happened during May and June.
Soo…that was a lot. Going over everything, these two months were outdoorsy and exploring months. I went to beaches, hikes, prom, lots of school events, blah blah. The months leading up to summer, I really made the most of the weather. If you’d like me to go more in depth on all the places to explore near Toronto, I could publish an issue especially for that, so do let me know, because I have lots of good recs! Or you could also feel free to chat with me via email or IG.
The other events seen in the collage include Garba Night, which is an event my school held where everyone could come and dance Garba, a type of Gujarati dance. The other cultural clothes I’m seen wearing were at Nagar Kirtan. This is an event held in Toronto by the Sikh community, where a parade of performances, martial arts, and prayers passes through the streets. You can find lots of food stalls set up throughout the route of the parade, which all provide free hearty meals (a staple of the Sikh culture), and you could eat as much as you want! So no one can go hungry.
Graduation
If you’ve stuck it out till now, there’s just a bit more to go. Congrats! You’re almost at the end of the article. I just realized I should've made the issue smaller - yikes! Getting into grad, I can’t believe 18 years of my life are over. 4 years of high school, enduring all the struggles and hardships - all over in a 2 hour ceremony. So here’s what I’ve learned:
Don’t procrastinate. I’m telling you, this is the one thing that’ll save you. I had friends struggling. Going to sleep for 2 hours a night, and sometimes not even that, because of all the work they had to do. I sometimes wondered if we even went to the same school because how could my and my friends’ schedules be so different? Is it because I was taking all the easy courses? Definitely not. I had physics, chemistry, functions, calculus, etc. The issue was leaving projects for days until the due date. Do a project when you get it. Or even if you don’t, plan it out on a calendar so that you have time over a period to work on it, or even to study for a test, and you’ll be getting your 8 hours of sleep every night, and the evening to spare for yourself. Trust me, it works.
Go above and beyond. Don’t just do the basic stuff. Romanticize doing a task even if it’s hard, or find a way to make it your own and interesting for you. That way, you’ll find ways to get that 4+ without having to struggle as much.
Attend events, make connections, talk to your teachers. Do I even have to stress this? I already said how important making connections is. School’s no fun without friends, and your teachers will give you better marks if you talk to them and seek feedback or show that you’re genuinely interested. If you struggle with the social aspects, no worries! Attend your school’s events, and the more people see your face, the more they’ll want to get to know you.
Get a spare. This saved me in Grade 12. I had a last period spare both semesters, so I went to school only for 4 hours and came home by 1. Do summer school so that you can get credits out of the way. I even took international language classes outside of school, which also counted for credit. So, you’ll have a chill Grade 12 if you’re able to do 3 courses throughout the year instead of 4, assuming you’re not taking Night School, which I thankfully wasn’t.
To end off, I want to quickly introduce you to our mindset this month: stoicism. I don’t often talk about it because there’s stuff I don’t agree with, but as a reminder to myself and to you, there are more things likely to frighten us than to crush us; we suffer more in our imagination than in reality (Seneca). Seize control of your mind and you will have controlled the world.
Until next time!