Indian-American Gitanjali Rao has been selected as the first-ever kid of the year by TIME magazine. The fifteen-year-old has used technology to “tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying.” Her mission is to create a global community of young innovators to solve problems the world over.
According to TIME magazine, five Kid of the Year finalists were selected from a field of more than 5,000 Americans, between the ages 8 to 16 on the basis of what they have already achieved and the impact it has made.
Introducing the first-ever Kid of the Year, Gitanjali Rao https://t.co/Hvgu3GLoNs pic.twitter.com/4zORbRiGMU
— TIME (@TIME) December 3, 2020
Gitanjali was interviewed by Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie and special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie after she was selected as Kid of the Year.
In the interview, she said, “Observe, brainstorm, research, build and communicate” adding that “If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
When Jolie asked her that when did she realise that science was her passion, she explained, “I feel like there wasn’t really one specific aha moment. I was always someone who wanted to put a smile on someone’s face. That was my everyday goal, just to make someone happy. And it soon turned into, How can we bring positivity and community to the place we live? And then when I was in second or third grade, I started thinking about how can we use science and technology to create social change. I was like 10 when I told my parents that I wanted to research carbon nanotube sensor technology at the Denver Water quality research lab..” She also spoke about her work in detail adding that she is currently working on an easy way to help detect bio-contaminants in water, for example, parasites.
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