The Youth Group of Indian Culture (YGIC) is an organization designed to teach students about the various facets of life, from time management & public speaking to Astronomy & Finance, from Indian history to Vedic Mathematics. During my 12 years in YGIC, I was able to gain fluency in a variety of topics, and apply what I learned to my various pursuits.

 

During the 11th year, I, along with several other students, worked to develop a self-sustaining charity to create clothing goods for kids at a homeless shelter, Julian Center, in Indiana. The key to our plan was running a fundraiser, where we raised $1800, determining how to create the clothing goods, and then teaching the next year’s students how to make the items. We also worked to ensure that the goods did not require sewing machines, and could be created in the most lean, and efficient manner. Our charity created sling bags, scarves, blankets, hats, and ponchos. We searched multiple different retailers and wholesale manufactures to find the cheapest material, allowing us to create the greatest number of goods. The guiding principle was that by constantly training the next year's students, we could increase our impact from five kids creating goods, to over 45 kids creating over 400 clothing artifacts per year, and creating a program that will continue for years to come, lighting up Christmas for hundreds of under-privilege children. This project was also a part of my Congressional Silver Award.

 

During the 12th year, a local CEO taught the Finance and Economics class. In this class, we studied how companies were run, as well as looked at the economy from a macro perspective. In addition, we learned specific skills, such as determining the valuation of a company, to be fluent in economic matters. We worked to develop a sample business plan to apply our understanding, and to allow us to gain an in-depth insight into starting a company.

 

YGIC gave me the opportunity to explore a wide array of topics and has helped me become an all-rounder.