Students selected as reflection speakers are honored to speak about their experiences at Georgia Tech.
Reflection Speakers: Lama Bahanan, Aayushi Mody, Dakshitha Anandakumar
Graduation is one of the happiest days of the year for Georgia Tech graduates. Students selected as reflection speakers will have a unique opportunity to speak to fellow alumni, professors, and families.
At each of Georgia Tech’s fall graduation ceremonies (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD), graduates are given three minutes to deliver an inspiring message. The bachelor’s speaker is biomedical engineering major Rama Vahanan. The master speaker is Ayushi Modi, an architecture major. and PhD. The speaker is Dakshita Anandakumar, who is also a biomedical engineering major.
Students must apply to become a reflection speaker. A panel of faculty and student judges selects finalists and submits complete speeches to the committee. Those selected as Reflection Her speakers are required to work with Tech’s Communications Center in preparation for the ceremony.
lama vahanan
Rama Bahnan has always enjoyed public speaking and she used to speak in her hometown of Saudi Arabia. At Tech, her speaking opportunities were primarily in class. But now she has her ultimate speaking opportunity in her Commencement.
“I truly believe that the tech community is one of a kind,” she said. “No matter what problem you have, there will always be a source to support you.” That is why she co-founded the Saudi Students Association to help students like her feel more comfortable and We encourage you to meet new people from different countries.
After graduation, she returned to Saudi Arabia and became an Associate Consultant at Strategy & PwC in Riyadh. She also enjoys being close to her family.
“I really miss my family,” she said. “My mother encouraged me to be independent and do things on my own. My father encouraged me to be curious and to have new experiences. is.”
Bahanan’s parents and older brother celebrate the graduation ceremony with her.
Ayushi Modi
Aayushi Mody applied to be a reflection speaker because he thought it would be a unique way to connect and inspire fellow students.
“Everyone involved in the speaker selection process was very supportive,” she said. “The best part was when I let my friends in the lab know about my selection. Everyone was very happy.”
Her speech will be about her specific experience at Georgia Tech and how lessons from that experience can be adopted by all graduates to help them live beyond technology.
After completing a master’s degree in architecture, Mody plans to practice sustainable architecture and design high-performance buildings to reduce their negative impact on the environment.
Originally from Surat, Gujarat, India, she hopes to keep her family together for her graduation ceremony. “I miss them,” she said. She celebrates with her fiancée and her close friends. “Without them, this journey would have been a very different and difficult one.”
Dakshita Anandakumar
From the beginning, Dakshitha Anandakumar knew the Georgia Tech community would be the subject of her retrospective speech.
“This community has given me the courage to pursue opportunities without being constrained by social norms,” she said. “I have been fortunate to meet some of the most inspiring people who have championed diversity, equity and inclusion through the organization and classes on campus. Several others in our graduating cohort shared similar experiences. I am confident that they are, and through my speech, I would like to encourage them to continue working for the betterment of their communities.”
Anandakumar said her last two years in graduate school flew by and working on a retrospective speech gave her the opportunity to reflect on her journey.
“It was a reminder that hard times don’t last, but hard people do,” she said.
Anand Kumar hails from a village called Bashettihari in the state of Karnataka in southern India. Her parents travel to Atlanta for the first time to celebrate her graduation with her.
“I can’t wait to see how proud they are of me giving my throwback speech,” she said. “My parents sacrificed a lot so that I could study here. I hope they see me graduate and feel it was worth it.” .”
After graduation, I plan to work as a researcher at SiriusXM. In his spare time, he plans to be a volunteer teacher at his NGO in India.