Aisha Kohkhar, Queens High School of Teaching, Class of 2015, knew just what she wanted to do for her WISE project – and went about it precisely the right way. She met with her mentor, she researched the possibilities, and she found the connections that she needed to contact for: an internship at a fashion magazine. Easy, right? Well, no…

Overcoming Real Challenges                                                                                                    With all that she had to do – college applications…senior courses…not to mention the multiple distractions that come along with being a senior and living a life – she somehow managed to mislay the phone numbers for the magazine connections that she had found.  Suddenly the deadline for finding an internship possibility had passed and Aisha was looking at the distinct, and for her unusual, possibility of failure. Stress, disappointment, anxiety suddenly took over, and she coped with her emotional distress by writing – at the suggestion of one of her teachers – a blog, chronicling the ups and downs of the path she was on. And that blog became the project, or at least the means to her project, blogging about travelling, specifically travelling in New York City. 

The Value of a WISE Mentor                                                                                                           Of course, her WISE mentor was key to her experience, helping her with the initial contacts, then helping pick her back up when those came to naught and she had to come up with something else.  “Without my WISE mentor, I wouldn’t have gone to the lengths I was able to during my experience… Not only did she guide me and advise me about how I should go about my project, but she helped me deal with roadblocks physically, mentally and emotionally. It was truly an amazing experience getting to know her on a personal level throughout this year.” Aisha not only felt supported at all times, but she appreciated the ways in which her mentor helped her become more independent and able to problem solve on her own. A perfect example: her dad was not thrilled with the idea of Aisha’s being in Manhattan by herself and wanted her to change her project to something safer.  Aisha was sure of her ability to navigate the city successfully but wasn’t sure how to explain that to him. After discussing the problem with her mentor, who did offer to talk to her father about this, Aisha felt empowered enough to take up the reins herself. She wrote him a long email, explaining exactly what she was doing, how responsible and independent she was, and how she had everything set up so that she would be safe. It worked. While he never fell in love with the idea of what she was doing, he trusted her enough to allow her to do it.

The Value of a WISE Experience                                            

WISE was everything that Aisha had hoped it would be. “My absolute favorite part of the WISE process was the independence, responsibility and trust we, as high school students, were given to work on our projects…The fact that I had the chance to prove my worth and work on a project that I absolutely loved and enjoyed was a great honor.” She also learned an enormous amount about things that she might have done better. She discovered (from the internship fiasco) that she needed to work on her time management skills, but she found herself as a writer, a photographer and, in her presentation, a public speaker. And she had tons of fun

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

Aisha wanted her WISE project to be a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience. She didn’t want it to be an introduction to her future career (she hopes to go into medicine) because she would have plenty of opportunities to explore that as she prepares for it in college. Instead she wanted to do something that she might not otherwise have the chance to do. WISE did precisely that for her – gave her the chance to explore New York City and to chronicle her travels in her blog where she shared her discoveries with her readers – discoveries like Midtown, now her favorite place, and city streets, now her happy place.  Being surrounded by so many people from every part of the world, but with no one knowing or saying anything to you,  just doing what they want.

Her Perfect Day:                                                                                                                        Getting there early (7am – 9am), breakfast from any small corner café; Walking in Central Park; writing in Bryant Park; museums: steps at Met; lunch at Italian place for pasta or pizza.

And some advice: “Don’t listen to anyone on the street; ignore their existence (especially if you’re a girl); don’t be afraid to use all of the trains, use your smartphone (Google Maps) to get around; don’t be afraid to use buses; find your own New York.”

A Blogging Bonanza                                                                                                                       But the blog turned out to be much more than she expected. It garnered far more traffic than anticipated: over 6000 views when all was said and done. And while she may not become a professional writer, the response to her blog vindicated her choice of project and encouraged her to continue blogging, as she plans to do, even as she goes off to study pre-med at Hofstra and plan for a medical career. Who is to say that she won’t be blogging about all of that as she goes along?

Aisha gave her project an unusual name: Odvojit of the WISE. Odvojit means “divergent” in Croatian. Aisha, with her diverse interests and personality traits, thinks divergent is a good description of her. And, while others assumed “of the WISE” referred to Wise People, Aisha preferred to think of it as referring to WISE itself. Looking back, it was a good choice of title. Her project diverged from its original purpose and precisely illustrated the opportunities and rewards that come with following a divergent path for one’s senior year. WISE gave Aisha the opportunity to try something that didn’t quite work out, then turn to something that proved, brilliantly, to be as exciting and valuable as anything could possibly be. Odvojit of the WISE proves the wisdom of preparing well but following a diverging path when it becomes necessary, using all the resources that WISE has to offer.