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My two cents for kids

 Looking out at your eager faces, I am reminded of the incredible potential that lies within each one of you. As students, you possess a unique power—the power to shape your own futures and create a positive impact on the society around you. I strongly encourage you to cherish the time you have in this school. For example, <maybe add any fun/mischievous moments you had in school; The mischief I engaged in during my school days taught me valuable lessons about boundaries, responsibility, and the significance of making thoughtful choices. Those moments of mischief served as a form of exploration, allowing me to push the limits and discover where boundaries were set. So, embrace every opportunity that comes your way, both inside and outside the classroom. Engage in extracurricular activities, and explore your passions. These experiences will shape you into well-rounded individuals and help you discover your true passions and talents. Remember, education is not just about learning a

Journey of Shravya and Shourya

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Shravya at 3 years (April 2018): Gave a group dance performance for the first time ever on stage at the VSNE Basava Jayanthi function 2018 -  Basava vachana dance performance Nov 2018: Folk medley at VSNE Deepavali event Dec 2018: Folk medley at Mandaara NEKK Deepavali/Children'sday/Kannada Rajyotsava event Fancy dress: Shravya as Kannadambe and Shourya as Basavanna March 2019: Anna bond song - Kanadante Maayavadanu at Shivaratri event conducted by VSNE Nov 2019: Dance performance at NEKK children's day event Shravya dressed as Rani Abbakka and Shourya as Atal Bihari Vajpayee March 2020: Variety show by Pittaway EDP kids for the song "When can I see you again" from the movie 'Ralph Breaks The Internet': Song recital for the karaoke: Shravya's happy birthday song on piano (March, 2020): Shourya's 3rd birthday during lockdown  (April 18, 2020): Parade by Ashland Fire department for Shourya&

Road trip around Lake Michigan

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Our family visited Troy, MI to see my brother's family, my mom, and dad in June 2019. From there we had planned for a road trip around Lake Michigan. Since we are 7 adults and 3 young kids (1 yr, 2 yr and 5 yr old), who needed car seats, we rented a 12-seat passenger van for the trip.  We bought snacks, packed basic Indian spices for cooking on our road trip. we had booked Airbnb houses/hotel rooms with a kitchen equipped with basic cooking utensils to cook the yummy and healthy Indian food. We had started our road trip on June 25, 2019, from Troy MI around 7 am. We had a nice 4-5 hour long countryside drive to  Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore , kids had fun watching and counting the number of cows, horses, alpacas on the way. On the National Lakeshore, Lake Michigan appeared like a giant sweet water ocean to us with clear see-through water. The weather was perfect to enjoy the view but the water was freezing cold to play. This place had numerous viewpoints but t

Glamping made fun by VSNE

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VSNE had organized the summer camping from July 19 - 22, 2019 in the midst of  the beautiful greenery of  White Mountains, NH. There were over a 100 people including about 45 kids and a few parents from India. I would like to call this camping experience as Glamping because this place had all the glamorous amenities for camping like nice spacious camping sites, water, electricity supply near all the campsites, access to the banks of Saco river, playground for kids, delicious food by volunteers and of course, dear VSNE members. Since it was our first time camping with our kids (2 and 5-year-old), me and my husband were a little nervous about camping. We did our homework to prepare for the camping and also our VSNE board members had shared the checklist for camping, things to do in the area. This information made us feel confident about our plan. We reached the camping site around 7.30 in the evening after a long 4-hour drive due to Friday traffic all the way from Ashl

I am not perfect but happy!

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Most of us are struggling under society’s expectation to be perfect in each and every way- to look smarter, fashionable, have more wealth and make more money. Do I think that I can be happy about being perfect? My answer is “No” but still I want to be perfect in life. This thought was coming to my mind and made me realize the fact that being happy doesn’t mean to be perfect or being perfect doesn’t make me happy. My thought is “To derive the difference between “being happy” and “being perfect”, and share my self-realization:                         One should not necessarily be happy only by being perfect.   I also think it is possible to be happy without being perfect but being positive /optimistic in our thinking. This thought has become a powerful mantra in my life. This is the thought which is provoking and helping me to find happiness in small things/work I do in my day to day life. I would explain it by providing a few instances. I used to afraid to take risks