It’s a well-known fact that most students at Carnegie Mellon are well rounded. They participate in multiple student organizations, are active around campus, and manage to keep good grades. Shahana Ganesharajah is no exception. In fact, her participation and enthusiasm for organizations and campus events is contagious.
Shahana is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and although she does not hold a position in the house, she loves being a part of the many events the sorority partakes in, including booth. “It’s the most hands-on, get down and get dirty thing so I really try to stay involved,” she says. She also helped the Greek community as a whole by serving as a Greek Peer Mentor, where she helped to educate new members. The experience helped her to meet more people within the Greek community.
Shahana is also involved with CMU’s Bhangra team, and has gotten to travel to many different cities for competitions. “It’s basically like a big family,” she says of the team. The beginning of the year has already been busy for the Bhangra team. Everyone has to try out again, whether they are returners or a first-timer and from there, the team has a few weeks of “bootcamp” to get people back into shape and refresh them.
In addition, Shahana is part of the student run committee CIT-CBC (Community Building Committee). The committee works under the CIT Dean’s Office to plan events for the college including CIT Pride Day, Take a Break, and Senior Sendoff.
Over Spring Break 2013, Shahana participated in Habitat for Humanity, which was one of the best decisions she ever made. She traveled to the town of Questa, outside of Taos, New Mexico. Questa is filled with locals who cannot afford real estate because the land is too expensive. Most houses are made from adobe, a mixture of dirt, sand, and straw. During the trip, Shahana made adobe bricks by hand, to help redo the Habitat for Humanity Restore.
As if all of those events as well as her double major in mechanical and biomedical engineering were not enough, Shahana has also been involved with SWE (Society of Women Engineers), the Dance Marathon Board, and has assisted with Bhangra in the Burgh.
“Being involved helps you meet a lot of people outside the scope of your major and living area. I always say you can learn something new from each person you meet and joining organizations helps you learn a lot about others and your own capabilities.”