Meet Daily Light Point Price honored Aarushi Dedhiya. Read his story and designate an exceptional volunteer or family as a daily point of light.
At just 16 years old, Aarushi Dedhiya understands how important it is for young people to acquire healthy lifestyle habits that they will maintain throughout their lives. Aarushi is part of her local Students against destructive decisions chapter at her high school in Enola, Pennsylvania, where she advocates against drug, alcohol and vaping use. And her dedication to this cause goes beyond the local level: Aarushi is active at the national and state levels with SADD. When she’s not working with SADD or writing an ebook for a mental health app, she also leads the anti-vaping agenda as chair of the national board of Catch my breath.
What inspires you to volunteer?
I wanted to make a difference in my community. As a high school student, I wasn’t sure what to do at first. Then I realized that volunteering was a great opportunity for me to help people in my community and make a difference. Right now I’m primarily volunteering in one specific area, namely drug, alcohol and vaping advocacy. The reason I do this is because I know this is a big issue in my school and other schools. This is very dangerous for young people and I hope I can make a difference and prevent others from using these substances, and also promote a healthy lifestyle among young people.
Describe your role as a volunteer with SADD and other organizations you are a part of.
The first organization I’m a part of is SADD, which stands for Students Against Destructive Decisions. I am a part of their local chapter, their state chapter, and the National Council. I do different work in each level of the chapter systems. On a local level, it’s part of my school. We create blog posts and educate the school community about these substances and how to choose a healthy lifestyle. At the state level, we are helping to create a conference with trainings and we are also working on a video that has become our passion project to share at the conference. We can bring everyone in Pennsylvania together and all locals can discuss this important topic. The National Council is where we do the core work of the organization, like hosting webinars, writing more blog posts, and helping connect each chapter across the United States to each other and with new partners. Currently, we are working with the National Road Safety Foundation and hope to create a global Youth Road Safety Month webinar to connect SADD chapters in other countries.
The next organization I am involved with is Catch My Breath. I am currently president of their national council. What we do is create and revise curricula that address vaping. We hope to see an effective and fun school program for middle, elementary and high school students to make them more aware of the fact that vaping is not good for them.
I’m also part of a mental health apps team and I’m on a committee called the publication committee. So I’m working on creating an online ebook to share about mental health. We hope to create this ebook to share more information about mental health – its causes, its different types – and just provide a lot more information about mental health that most people aren’t aware of.
What has been the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part is seeing how much of a real impact my work has. I see people joining my school’s SADD club and I see people starting to take initiative to understand why drugs, alcohol and vaping are a problem.
What have you learned through your experiences leading this organization?
I learned that patience is the key to making an impact. More to the point, we cannot have a big impact in a single day; it takes time for it to settle in and for you to actually see the end result of what you’re doing. So the work we’re doing now may not have an impact right now, but in about a month or a year, we will have had an impact on many teenagers and high school students.
Are there any future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about?
Right now, at SADD, we have a summer break. So we are suspending in-person meetings, but we plan to have a convention in September where we will all get together and talk about the issues we are facing. Additionally, our state conference is also coming up and I am very excited about it because it helps bring all of the SADD chapters in Pennsylvania together. I will have the opportunity to meet the local population and also talk about this important issue.
Why is it important for others to get involved in causes they care about?
I think it’s important for people to get involved in this advocacy because it helps them make their voices heard. There are many platforms that allow them to do this and it can help them choose a path where they can make a difference in the lives of other people – people who are unaware of the dangers of these issues. As more people step up and take on the role of advocate, we can begin to increase awareness and eventually end youth substance use in our schools.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
One lesson I want people to learn is that advocacy is for everyone. No matter who they are or what they do, they can all be advocates for this cause. It is important that you step up and use your voice because many teenagers are unaware of the effects of these substances and fall prey to peer pressure, which can cause them to suffer later in life. The use of drugs, alcohol and other substances can be very dangerous for your body and also for your future. So I hope that everyone, no matter who they are, can step up and take up this cause and help make a difference.
Do you want to make a difference in your community like Aarushi? Find local volunteer opportunities.
