Name: Neena Khindria
Year: Sophomore
Age: 19
Hometown: Asheville, NC
Major(s): Biology B.A. and Psychology B.S.
Minor(s): Neuroscience
Life Motto: When you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine
HC: You’ve got a lot going on with your majors and minor. How do you balance all of that?
NK: I don’t really know, to tell you the truth! I rely on my friends to motivate me a lot and I just try and take it day by day, honestly.
HC: Do you have time for extracurriculars with your heavy academic schedule?
NK: Yeah, and I work. I’m the Fundraising Chair for the Autism Society of North Carolina, UNC-CH campus chapter. I work at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute near Carrboro.
HC: We can’t believe you work, too. You’ve got so much going on! Can you describe what you do you at your job?
NK: (laughs) I don’t have that much going on. So, basically I’m a research assistant and I help in a play-based study for toddlers who may be on the Autism spectrum or may just have different behaviors than what what we would expect of children their age. We just work with the toddlers and their families to help them with their everyday activities.
HC: Do you have a specific career path in mind?
NK: I’m not sure exactly what I want to do, but I’m looking at either being a speech pathologist or occupational therapist, and if not either of those I might go into research on mental disorders.
HC: What sparked your interest in autism and other things related to the brain?
NK: I feel like I’m a person who really enjoys helping people and seeing the impact of being able to help people. I’ve been working with children and families since I was 13 and started working with children with Down syndrome and children on the Autism spectrum when I was 15 and I found that it was really rewarding for me and the people I was working with. It also really fascinates me in more of a research sense. And I just really love people, so that’s how that happened (laughs).
HC: What’s the best thing that’s happened to you recently?
NK: I got a compliment on the Carolina Compliments FaceBook page, and just wanna say thanks, mysterious friend!
HC: Any other fun facts about you?
NK: Obama waved at me once.
Follow her on Twitter @queen.neen and on Instagram @queen__neen if you wanna hear more about her Obama story!