Jeevan-Teen On The Go

Over the centuries, The Banyan tree has taken on significance as a symbol of fertility, life and resurrection. It is a fitting symbol for ‘DesiStoriesAshaUSA’ which presents the stories of South Asians who have wandered far and wide from their ancestral homes, traversing new frontiers and setting down roots and networks in the US. Our goal is to connect and establish closer ties within the diasporas of the South Asian community and facilitate a dialogue with our readers. We will showcase stories of achievement and success and also resiliency and hope.

Our story today features Jeevan Venkatesan, young man extraordinaire!

Jeevan is a sophomore at Penn State University Park, majoring in Aerospace Engineering. He explores the world by volunteering, diving into cultural experiences, internships and entrepreneurial ventures. His smile lights up his face, as he enthusiastically recounts his many achievements. At the same time, genuine humility and charm radiate to win over the listener. His zest for life and go go attitude seem difficult to sustain, but like the ‘energizer bunny’, he has been forging ahead since he took his first steps, enthusiastically supported by his parents, Priya and Venky.

The first sign of future promise came at the age of 4, with his story published in the Hindu Mandir newsletter ‘Voice of Mandir’ in 2008.

And the promise continued to unfold as the years went by, in the arenas of Music, Sports, Volunteerism, Internships and Academics as detailed below.

Music and Dance

Expressing himself is critical to Jeevan, using all forms of dance and music, including Bhangra and Bollywood.
He has been involved with the ‘South Asian Arts and Theater House (SAATH)’: https://www.Saathmn.org, for the past 10 years, a non-profit that establishes a cohesive community through dance.

He founded ‘Dance for a Cause: 2019-2021’, raising money by teaching dance and donating to local organizations; and co-founded ‘Bhangra Thrills’, a professional dance group that dances around the Twin Cities.
He also participated in Twin Cities Euphoria, dancing at Jazba 2022 (https://www.jazbamn.com), a Bollywood-fusion dance competition set up to raise funds for ‘Women in Need/WIN’.

Jeevan has played Violin since he was three, and was in the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies for two years (GTCYS). He was First Chair leading his section for one year, playing all around the Twin Cities including Orchestra Hall and Ted Mann Hall.

Sports

In addition to his cultural pursuits, Jeevan has played many sports since he was 5, including Cricket for Team Minnesota, Basketball for school teams, Golf, Sailing in summer and Bowling for which he received two varsity letters in the 10th and 12th grade.
A favorite is chess, which he has played in, and won, many tournaments.

Volunteerism and Internships

Volunteering has been a key part of Jeevan giving back to his community.
He led the Social Media efforts and website for the Maple Grove Rotary Club, actively working their community events. Passionate about climate change, he has volunteered with Earth Uprising, a global, youth-led climate movement.
One of his formative experiences was the ‘Eagle UA 5 day camp focusing on leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation.
He also worked with the India Association of Minnesota (IAM) since 2019 as Head Photographer, Oral history intern, India Fest, Golf Events, Marketing Programs and handled logistics for Corporate Connect in 2019.

With IAM as a sponsor, Jeevan apprenticed with the ‘Seeds to Harvest’ organization on an entrepreneurial venture for ‘A Better Community Impact’ fellowship in 2020-2021. He was one of 100 High Schoolers (HS) who were guided through the field of entrepreneurship and business creation. He was the last HS left after eliminations to present his concept G-BOX to the Mayor of Minneapolis.

The concept was a fully biodegradable garbage can for parks, businesses and the community using bamboo sticks and coconut strings. Though the concept did not eventually move forward, Jeevan learnt valuable lessons on managing a business and success and failure.

St. Thomas Military Academy

Jeevan completed his formative HS education at St. Thomas Military Academy. His parents were seeking a structured organization that would provide discipline and diverse opportunities for extra curricular activities. The school certainly gave him that!

He participated in the Honor Guard all four years and provided services to the public on behalf of the school at showcases and social events. He also participated in civil debates on worldview topics as part of the Lincoln Society for two years, and was a member of the Junior Varsity Math Team and Quiz Bowl.

He contributed to the school newspaper as photographer of school events and was a student ambassador for the school for two years.

He participated in the Model United Nations for two years; the Blue Origin Contest, tasked to develop a test that could be brought into Space; and the First Tech Challenge, building robots that got his team into the regionals in 2019.

An overarching theme being his interest in Aerospace engineering.

NASA Hunch

One of his most notable achievements was participating in the NASA HUNCH (https://www.nasahunch.com) Design and Prototype program for 3+ years and as a finalist in 2020. The challenge was to develop a carbon fiber wheel for a lunar wagon, that could be potentially used in a real life NASA mission.
Though teams were invited for the final design review in Houston at Rocket Park on Johnson Space Center April 15, 2020, the COVID pandemic unfortunately prevailed.

University

As the summer of 2023 comes to a close, and Jeevan wraps up his summer jobs as Math Tutor and at retail food outlets, he plans to continue the clubs/experiences at Penn State University (PSU) that he began in his freshman year.

Production Manager with PSU Jadhoom, a Bollywood fusion dance team that competes on the DDN (Desi Dance Network) circuit; PSU Formula1, contributing ideas to help his team optimize aerodynamics with suspension and body ideas; The PSU AVT (Advance Vehicle Team) club, year 2 of 5 year program building a level 4 autonomous car, as a member of the system engineering team working on car system and safety features. The team has collectively placed 3rd in this year’s competition and Jeevan’s focused area (safety and system engineering) placed 1st; AIAA Club to gain better experience in the field of aerospace through speaker series and networking events .

Build it with IAM

With the support of the India Association of Minnesota, Jeevan has also launched a new entrepreneurial venture called ‘Build it with IAM’.
This non-profit is run by college students who have successfully completed the journey of college applications, and can provide experienced assistance with college admission essays to aspiring college High Schoolers.

More information on Jeevan’s new non-profit venture can be found at ‘@BuilditwithIAM’ on Facebook and Instagram.
Jeevan will also have a prominent presence with ‘BuilditwithIAM’ posters at various locations at IndiaFest on Saturday August 12 on the Capitol Grounds in St. Paul from 11am to 9pm.

https://form.jotform.com/231783724970060?mibextid=2JQ9oc

As Jeevan, at the tender age of 19, having already achieved a lifetime’s worth of academic, business, cultural and community credits, steps on the yet untrodden path of his future, we say ‘GO FOR IT!’

DISCUSSION : Our goal is to start a dialogue through the stories we present here. Please send us your comments, either by posting a comment at the bottom of this blog, and/or sending an email to ’ashausastories@gmail.com’.

AshaUSA’s mission is to provide culturally specific programs to the South Asian community to foster health and harmony in their lives. Please visit our website ‘ashausa.org’ for more information on our programs, volunteer opportunities and resources.