Founding understem

Haasini Paparaju

Founder-President

Hey! I'm Haasini Paparaju, a high school senior currently studying in Massachusetts. And living in a world now driven by knowledge and education, our actions and awareness are more important than ever.

Growing up in India and shifting to the US in the middle of my high school career, I found out I was completely clueless about things like the college admission process here. And you know what else shocked me? A lot of my new friends here were, too. I realized I was onto a big problem - bigger than I thought, perhaps?

It got me thinking about how much easier my life would be if I was given an organized, easily accessible source of information explaining concepts that are widely recognized to be confusing. On bringing this up with my parents, they reflected on their own college experience, and how the same thing played out with them entering the industry - only on a much grander scale. 

Going from high school to college or from college to the workplace can be daunting and incredibly taxing: knowledge gaps are everywhere, and getting rid of them is both mentally and practically the best option to deal with that taxation.

Determined to do something about it, understem was born, after hours of research and website building. I hope to see this platform come of practical use to all you students out there, who will now have access to all advice necessary to succeed in the next stage of your careers - whether it be higher education, or entering the industry.

The understem concept of connecting diverse, global groups for greater access to knowledge, skills, and awareness has also recently been extended to reachvillages.org. We're connecting Indian villagers and the international diaspora!