Our students at THEARC campus had an exciting visit from Dr. Padma Venkatraman on Friday. Thanks to An Open Book Foundation, each student received their own copy of Padma’s newest book titled, “A Time to Dance”. Padma shared her life story with the girls by touching upon growing up in India, moving to the United States, and obtaining American citizenship. Her wit combined with her interesting story kept the girls alert and excited to learn more.

Before Padma became a writer, she obtained a doctorate in oceanography at the College of William and Mary. She conducted post-doctoral research in Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Touching on her experiences as an oceanographer, she said that at her size, if she could wrestle down and tag crocodile while conducting research, the WSG girls could do anything they put their minds to.

The girls were given the chance to ask Padma questions. When a student asked what her favorite subjects in school were, she spoke about her love of reading, music, and math, and how they all relate to each other. “If you read a good book, it sings to you…Language is music, and music is connected to math.”

Padma told the girls, “Writing is what makes you a writer, not publication. And when we write, we imagine the person we might like to be.”

We are so lucky to have had this special morning with such an impressive and inspiring woman!