Diya has always been passionate about teaching and working with students, but Breakthrough Cincinnati (BTC) was a “different arena” for her during her first summer as a Teaching Fellow. Her prior teaching experience primarily involved those with the same heritage as her in religion classes. “I really enjoyed the fact that Breakthrough works with so many different backgrounds of individuals,” which was one of the driving factors for her to apply. “I wanted to learn more from the students and create a connection with them.”

Diya demonstrated strong abilities in connecting with her students while engaging them with their lessons. For example, in her second summer teaching at BTC, she was very proud of her science activity that involved a murder mystery. “We were learning about characteristics of things that are dead versus alive, like abiotic and biotic factors, and we did a murder mystery that lasted about a week. Every class, I would play creepy music. We had caution tape, and the kids made a body to have in the middle of the class. We analyzed fingerprints, hair samples, and things like that. It was something that students talked about even outside of the classroom.” She expressed that as a proud teacher moment, “Because that's the goal, right? You want them to take what they're learning and put it outside the classroom and sometimes not even realize that they are learning in that moment.”

Diya's plans may pleasantly surprise some, as she is channeling her talents from the classroom to the medical field. For Diya, that was a part of the magic of Breakthrough— “it’s for everyone.” She explained, “It’s not like a very specific Co-Op about one thing. Breakthrough Cincinnati is an experience for the soul. It’s to develop those characteristics that are used in every single profession.” She advocated for her peers to apply this coming summer because she felt everyone stood to learn something from this experience. “Whether you’re an engineer, doctor, artist, or anything like that, you’ll always have to work with people. You’re going to have to develop empathy in the workplace and skills in diversity, equity, and inclusion. I find that very valuable.”