A Little About Me

Hello,

My name is Arya Ramachandran. I was born and brought up in the Boston area and am currently a senior at Winchester High School. I was inspired to start this COVID project when I saw the statistics on the news (Spring 2020). Every day, there was a drastic increase in cases, and no matter what solutions governments engineered, the numbers continued to rise exponentially. Upon seeing that, I decided that I wanted to make a difference. I aimed to help others in any way I could, even if it were simply to spread some positivity or share the information I curated based on my extensive research.

As I set out on my quest to make a difference, I saw the start of fellow Bostonian John Krasinski’s “Some Good News.” I noticed the immediate splash it made, gaining over a MILLION subscribers in under 24 hours. But perhaps more importantly, I noticed the joy it spread. Throughout Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, people were posting about this channel and trying to spread their own stories after being inspired. “Some Good News” taught me how quickly positive information could spread and make a difference. 

A promise I made to myself when starting to build my website (March 2020) was that it would be 100% free of misinformation. After all, there was so much news, both fact, and fiction, being reported on the subject matter. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information that existed and was being shared. As a result, I had to learn how to slowly digest the data, laboriously sifting through fact and fiction. This deeper understanding allowed me to deliver bite-sized information to my peers without compromising the integrity of the content I was delivering. If I hadn’t developed this skill during the early stages of building my website, I surely would have broken the promise I made to myself. 

The first iteration of the site consisted of general information about COVID and what measures we as citizens should take to protect ourselves. From there, I dove into statistics about the virus and tried to quantify how the world handled the epidemic. Adding color to these numbers, I started to collect personal stories from people I knew all over the world. 

I expanded the scope of my research to also include interviews. I began by speaking with doctors working on the frontlines — individuals who are putting their lives on the line to serve others. This led me to my first interviewee, Dr. Atul Bhatia. Our conversation was my first deep dive into what it’s like to be working on the frontlines during this time. The interview played an integral role in helping me understand the nature and ramifications of this pandemic.

Augmenting my research, I had the pleasure of conversing with individuals impacted by the pandemic outside of the medical field, including Massachusetts State Senator Jason Lewis. All this research developed into several pages of interviews that helped explain the impact of the virus on various fronts: healthcare, economics, education, and policy.

I used my website as an information hub for my peers and the local community - a one-stop shop for all things COVID and beyond. As the world grew in its conviction and resilience, so did the website. It is now all-encompassing, shedding light on the social implications of the pandemic. From a blank canvas, it is now my map of the world’s multifaceted journey.

I am proud to share that the site was awarded a Senate Citation. It also received the Coventure19 Grant and the Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence Student Innovation Grant to continue demystifying the pandemic for my community. It was included as part of Winchester’s Service Learning Community Newsletter for all public schools in town. I was asked to present the website at a Town Meeting, which was then highlighted as a student project on the town website. 

Social Justice Recognition: I am excited to share that I was recently featured as the Highlight Intern on Network for Social Justice’s (NFSJ) annual report. This stemmed from my work for the Network over the last couple of years, my efforts around affordable housing, and my initiative to launch the “Shaping a Better Tomorrow” program.

I hope this website continues to serve as a helpful catalog of information about COVID-19 and beyond for my community at large.

Best,