The First Door
iKen Scientifica 2014
Some doors don’t open for you. You open them. And once you do, the world never looks the same.
In 2014, I was 11 years old when I applied to iKen Scientifica, a national science model-building competition. I cleared two initial rounds by submitting videos of models I built under the mentorship of Ma'am Vandana Sharma. They may not look like much today — but for what an 11-year-old could build, they were everything.
I cleared both rounds and was invited to the national finals in, where I had to build and present two new models on the spot. That round came with a decision — one I almost didn’t make. I hesitated, unsure whether I could handle the pressure. But a quiet instinct nudged me forward. I said yes. And that choice changed everything.
It’s the same moment I wrote about in my Letter to the One Who Fears the Unknown.
I was declared the national winner — and awarded a trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It wasn’t just a reward. It was a glimpse into a world I’d only seen in books. For an 11-year-old, walking among rockets and space shuttles didn’t just feel surreal — it felt like a sign. A sign that said: keep going.
This wasn’t just the start of my journey in robotics. It was the first time I followed the whisper inside.
don’t bury the weight
when ease turns to ache,
let that discomfort
be the sign you take.
Read my Letter to the One Who Fears the Unknown →
Sometimes, the first door doesn’t look grand. It creaks when it opens. You hesitate. But years later, you look back and realize — everything began there.
This was mine.
What might yours be?
