Gitanjali Rao Named Time Magazine’s First Ever ‘Kid of the Year’
Indian American girl Gitanjali Rao, 15, who is a young inventor has been named TIME magazine’s first-ever ‘Kid of the Year.’
Indian American girl Gitanjali Rao, 15, who is a young inventor has been named TIME magazine’s first-ever ‘Kid of the Year.’
Gitanjali comes across as a cheerful young girl who has dealt with varied but important subjects that plague society such as cyberbullying, opioid addiction, and contaminated drinking water using science and technology.
The young innovator was chosen from among 5,000 nominations.
Meet TIME's first-ever Kid of the Year https://t.co/8ExwjanZfE pic.twitter.com/UkPscbp63H
— TIME (@TIME) December 3, 2020
She spoke to Actress Angelina Jolie during an online interview where she was praised by the ‘Girl, Interrupted’ actress for her “brilliant ideas.”
Describing the process she follows she told Angelina, “Observe, brainstorm, research, build and communicate.”
Gitanjali admitted that her everyday goal was to make people happy and “put a smile on someone’s face.” So her inspiring achievements undoubtedly come from a place of her compassionate nature.
She stepped up and thought about how she could make her community a better place and finally when she was in second or third grade she reflected on how she could bring a social change through science and technology.
Her latest innovation helps detect cyberbullying at an early stage using Kindly- an app and a chrome extension based on artificial intelligence.
She’s currently working on an easy way to detect bio-contaminants like parasites so that people in third world countries would know what’s in their water.
It is truly noteworthy that a young girl is aware of the numerous issues plaguing our society and she’s not only working hard to find solutions but also mentoring others to do the same. She admits, “ from personal experience, it’s not easy when you don’t see anyone else like you. So I really want to put out that message: If I can do it, you can do it, and anyone can do it.”