Being an Indian classical dancer is a way for Anneka Girish – a member of the class of 2024 at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney – to honor her family’s heritage. Her parents immigrated from India to the United States, where she was born.
At Our Lady of Good Counsel, Girish helped lead the school’s Asian Pacific Islanders Association, and she has performed Indian classical dances there. “For me, it’s connecting back to my culture and helping others embrace it,” she said.
During Culture Week there in March, students showcased fashions, singing and dancing representing their different cultural backgrounds, and they also shared ethnic foods throughout the week. “We got to say our prayers in our languages,” Girish said.
This past summer, she got to experience different cultures in a dramatic way, as she joined her youth group from St. Peter’s Parish in Olney in attending World Youth Day in Lisbon Portugal. “My favorite part was being surrounded by so many kids from different places who were so enthusiastic to be there,” she said. “For me the biggest takeaway was going outside the everyday world we live in. It was like the whole world was there at once.”
That experience with Catholic youth from different countries and cultures who spoke different languages but shared the same faith “deepened my faith,” she said.
This fall, Girish will attend the College of Engineering at Purdue University in Indiana and plans to major in biomedical engineering there. At Good Counsel, Girish participated in the St. Mary’s Scholars Program and in the Project Lead The Way STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program. Her favorite classes included principles of engineering, civil engineering and architecture, and engineering design and development.
Her father, Girish Ramanujam, works in IT, and her mother, Mary Antonysamy, works as an immunology scientist for a pharmaceutical company. Girish’s engineering classes at Good Counsel helped spark her interest in studying biomedical engineering, as did her mother’s work, which she said has the goal “to save the lives of others and to help patients.”
Girish helped lead the Future Medical Students of America club at her high school and was a member of the National Honor Society there.
One of Girish’s favorite activities at Good Counsel was participating in national speech competitions, reciting original oratory at meets at college campuses, including at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Kentucky. Girish said she appreciated “being able to share our thoughts on the world and hear what others have to say… and learning a lot from the different views of kids from all over.”
Also at Good Counsel, where she was a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools Leader, Girish founded and led a club that created awareness on social justice topics. “Being centered in Christ and our faith” was an important part of her school experience there, she said. “Everyone here is for each other.”
Girish said she will carry those values she learned at Good Counsel with her into the future. “They contributed to making us who we are,” she said.
As her graduation approached, Girish said she felt bittersweet about leaving her high school, but also excited about studying biomedical engineering in college. “Good Counsel has been so much fun… (but) I’m definitely excited to start the new chapter,” she said.
