Doetri Ghosh

Doetri Ghosh joined YAP in 2020, when she was a sophomore at Issaquah High School outside Seattle and the program went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has gone on to participate in the program for three consecutive years. Doetri leads her school’s engineering club and is the co-founder of an initiative to raise funds for educational equality in places like Afghanistan as well as global health and disaster response.

How did you first become involved with the Discovery Center?

The year we moved here to Seattle from California, I had discovered a newfound passion for volunteering work and for taking action on different causes in my community…. So my family decided to check out the Gates Foundation Discovery Center. We learned about the Take Action programs, and I got involved in the middle school workshops in seventh and eighth grade. Then, I did the high school workshops in ninth grade and 10th grade.

How did you become interested in equity in the STEM fields?

I joined [my school’s engineering] club in my sophomore year, and that is when I realized that engineering is a very male-dominated field. I believe I was one of two girls who were in the club that year…. Junior year, when we went back to school in person, I decided that I really wanted to make sure that this club was for all students…[and] that female students who were confident enough to join would feel at home…. Now, I believe we have 12 female members, and whenever we have our club sessions, I always see a new female peer in the club, which is great to see.

What advice do you have for other young people looking to get involved in community service?

Be willing and open to trying different things! For me, finding what I’m passionate about—which is educational equality and equitable access to technology—really started because I found a hobby that I was interested in…. Connecting with opportunities around your interests can seem really intimidating at the start. But just go for it!

YAP alumni information adapted with permission from ParentMap.