WANTING to give back to his community through a global competition, 15-year-old Akash Enjeti created a mindfulness app which has led him to becoming one of 100 winners across the world.
The Merewether High School student was recently named a 2024 Rise Global Winner in a youth challenge which aims to set up young people aged between 15 and 17 with mentorship and leadership advice and opportunity.
"I first heard of Rise back in school two years ago and at that time I wasn't old enough to apply but I kept it in the back of my mind as something I was very keen and interested to participate in," he said.
After a gruelling application, interview process, IQ test and video presentations and months of working on his project, Akash received the news he was one of just two Australian winners in the competition.
"I was really, really amazed to find out that I was one of the winners. I didn't really expect it. There was a slither of hope of course. I was absolutely thrilled to find out," he said.
"It seemed such a small chance of me ever being able to succeed in a really competitive program like this, but I think you've got to give it a shot. You know, aim for the stars, and at least you'll reach the moon."
His win came from his passion for medicine and helping people which allowed him to make his mindfulness app called 'ChillOut', which is focused on improving mental health for young people.
"I'd found that one in five young people are struggling with their mental health, and that mindfulness was a very evidence backed technique that could help this but currently available mindfulness solutions weren't targeted at young people," he said.
"So I created a website platform with gamification elements to engage people into practicing mindfulness, and I had some really incredible results from that. We had over 100 users from around the world."
Akash said he wanted to participate in Rise for its values in "trying to find brilliant young people who can make a difference in the world".
"... and providing them with benefits that enable that. I always wanted to build projects that could help my community so having something like a competition as the motivation to do so, was great," he said.
"Now I have access to some mentorship, career advice and help with university applications."
He said the highlight of the competition was getting to meet young, like-minded people from around the world.
"As a winner, next year I will get to attend the annual summit held somewhere in the world with all the other winners and get to meet them in person," he said.
