Anika Arora is an honor-roll 7th grader at Salem Middle School. A longtime member of the non-profit organization Dedicated to Our Community of North Carolina (DOC NC), she has been active in community service for years and has raised hundreds of dollars for causes such as the Duke Childrens’ Hospital’s Bone Marrow Transplant department, playground equipment for children with special needs, and the non-profit organization Big Brothers Big Sisters.
To help the community further, she recently expanded her passion for the game of chess into something more. A few months after the COVID-19 pandemic started, she taught several beginners the basics of chess through online lessons over the course of a few weeks, and nearly two months ago, Anika became one of the youngest authors on a popular chess website after collaborating with her sister to publish a course, which has been very successful already with nearly 70 students and over a dozen positive ratings. One of the highlights of the course is that they have pledged to donate at least 25% of their profits towards the World Food Program USA.
Apart from chess, Anika enjoys writing stories, learning new languages, and reading. She is also active in the Hindu Society of North Carolina, where she has been singing bhajans since the age of 5 and frequently gives presentations on aspects of the Hindu culture.
She has a passion for science and medicine and aspires to become an ER doctor or radiologist when she grows up.