While the clouds part to give way to a soft golden light falling on half her sketchbook, Anagha Ram (12) opens her colored pencil set. For a few short seconds, she observes the eye she drew and wonders which color she should add to her page. First the bright red, then dark green, dark blue and so on, as she blends each into the drawing to enhance the already vibrant colors set on the page. 

“I never start drawing without a plan. I think a lot of people do that. But when I do it, and I’ve tried it before, it ends up being a mess on paper,” Anagha said. “Usually, I’ll go through my thoughts and what’s really stuck out to me in the past few days or weeks. Then, I’ll focus on that one idea, and if it’s a very abstract thing, I’ll try to limit it into [something] more tangible.” 

For Anagha, drawing came as an outlet at a time when she was grieving from her grandfather’s passing. Instead of focusing on the negatives, Anagha started to create an open mindset to help step into a new perspective. 

“I definitely blossomed after [his passing] and broke out of my shell because I’ve always been quite timid and shy,” Anagha said. “After going through that, I had a new perspective on life. [It] sounds really cliche, but I started living day by day … and doing what I wanted.” 

Other than just art, Anagha’s abilities to separate herself from the crowd through class choices is recognized by adviser and English teacher Ohad Paran. 

“She makes smart choices in the classes she chooses, which is really important,” Paran said. “She doesn’t follow the crowd and take some classes because everyone else is taking them, but she takes conscious decisions in what she’s interested in.” 

Along with art, Anagha also pursues a love of volunteering with Hands on Bay Area, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students make strides in various volunteer endeavors.   

“When I first joined volunteering, I was doing more busy work. As I progressed through the community service, I started understanding that busy work doesn’t really do anything,” Anagha said. “It’s not making those big strides in the community that I wanted to make. Instead of being focused on labor intensive work, I got more into societal issues like privilege and biases.” 

One of the ways Anagha started to become more involved in challenging implicit biases and advocating for societal change was by hosting lessons called Digital Dialogues. These focus on educating people in the community to learn about microaggressions and to bring awareness to what she calls the “bubble that we all live in.” Her main goal is to make the community a more accepting place and help them use a growth mindset while doing so. 

Anagha’s close friend since fifth grade Suman Mohanty (12) has watched Anagha’s passions develop as she became more interested in specific areas like drawing and volunteering. 

“It’s really nice to see her being super driven. As everyone grows, you learn about even more ways to get involved with what you’re doing. She’s very passionate, and it’s nice to see that her passion is in making change,” Suman said.  

Anagha’s need to be there for others and to help educate others doesn’t go unnoticed. Senior from Palo Alto High School and close friend Sabrina Takemoto notes that Anagha’s hard work stems from her willingness to help those who need it. 

“[She’s] very caring and is always doing lots of community service. She always wants to help other people and [is] also very hardworking and determined and knows what she wants,” Sabrina said. “She’s very goal oriented but she’s also very laid back and balanced. So even though she’s very hard working, she also knows how to enjoy her life and take time to help herself.” 

Anagha always makes sure to help others, not just through volunteering but also with her close friends and family. To Anagha, bringing joy into other people’s lives is more gratifying than keeping it for herself. 

“Everyone in my life believes that I care more about others than I do myself. I definitely put others before me, and in doing so, I try to bring humor into other people’s lives,” Anagha said. “It … has negatively affected me, but the pros have always outweighed the cons, so it’s never been a big deal for me.”

Anagha’s love for not only aiding others through education, but also for observing the world around her through art, helps her to creatively find ways to be there for others while empathizing with the feelings of loneliness or sadness they may be going through. 

“I can’t stand seeing others feeling alone. I understand when people go through stuff — I go through my own stuff. I understand that being sad is okay sometimes, but sometimes that sadness and despair stems from feeling alone … I want [others] to feel like I’m there for them, and I let them know that I’m there for them through humor and through being eccentric … and listening,” Anagha said.