The National Geographic Junior Hunt

Here's a very nice article by Neha of Birla Girls High School of Calcutta in the Telegraph on her experience of the Nat Geo Talent Hunt:

CALCUTTA
Junior champ

The quest of Nat Geo Junior Hunt 2 was to find an Indian kid who embodied the values that National Geographic stands for. The National Geographic Channel (NGC) chose 20 students from among four lakh participants from classes V to VIII across 10 cities. Jahnvi Popat (Class VI) and I (Class VIII) were chosen from Calcutta, after a gruelling set of tests.

We were then taken to an adventure camp organised by NGC in collaboration with Youreka at Sitlakhet, a scenic spot in the mountains, about 35 km away from Ranikhet in Uttaranchal. Here, we were tested on our adaptability skills among other things, and eventually, three other participants and I reached the finals.

We then went through extensive grooming sessions with the British Council in Delhi, where we were given tips on how to improve our public speaking, extempore, debating and teamwork skills.

At the end of it, my joy knew no bounds when cricketer Rahul Dravid announced my name as the second Nat Geo Junior. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a great learning opportunity. I hope that such programmes are conducted in the future as well to provide students with more exposure and a platform to showcase their potential.

Neha Jain,
Class VIIIB, Birla High School (Girls)

March 20 , 2008