Junior takes time to explore, studying migration, heritage

Every Monday at 10:45 a.m., Sana Shahul sits down with her independent study supervisor, history teacher Mariah Bender. They talk formatting and citations for a paper Sana will write as the cumulative project for independent study.

Before the period ends and it’s time for Sana to go to Biology, Ms. Bender suggests a new reading and for Sana to finish her introduction and conclusion by their next meeting. Sana agrees and steps out of the history office, excited to research a topic important to her: Indian immigration into Tanzania.

For Sana, participating in an independent study has allowed a deeper exploration beyond what a conventional class could offer.

According to Ms. Bender, Sana started her Independent Study during the second week of the school year after the two had a conversation about Indian immigration into Tanzania after the class had a discussion on a similar topic.

And they were off. The pair only meet once a week, mostly to check Sana’s progress, but she sees this as an advantage.

“In a regular class you have nightly homework that’s just checked every day, versus this where I have to do it over the course because there’s just so much I have to cover,” Sana said.

It might be a lot of work, but Sana is excited for the challenge. She finds the style of learning especially enjoyable because as a first-generation Indian-American, it’s a topic close to her heart.

“In class we learned about the Mali Empire, and we really do go deep into that,” Sana said, “but to be able to go really deep into a topic that you’re really interested in learning about I think really has a different vibe to it.”

Despite what might seem like a dry course of citing and formatting the same paper, Sana found inspiration and excitement from her solo curriculum.