Mission Title: Mission Specialist

Anika was born into a family of Indian origin. She is curious, enjoys gadgets and loves sports. She has attended Columbus Magnet School since 1st grade and been in the Young Astronauts program since 1st grade as well.
 
A few things that Anika has accomplished in her life:

• Anika has been chosen to be the school Ambassador in 2009. She is also in the Editorial Board and Student Council of CMS.
• Anika has achieved 2nd place in her school’s Science Fair in 2009.
• In fourth grade she was elected Treasurer in Student Council.
• She is in the Academically Talented program.
• She came in first place in a Math contest in 2008, at a Math Club which she is a member of.
• Anika is a rank below Black Belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and came second place in a State National USTA competition in 2008.
• She can play piano pieces of famous composers such as Bach, Beethoven & Mozart.

 Anika has traveled to several destinations and learned a lot about the history and culture wherever she went. Her favorite place was Florida because she went to Disneyworld and really enjoyed it. NASA was also really interesting and because she thought the real space shuttles, mission control room and the launch pad were really cool! Anika loved Hawaii as well because she thought it was a beautiful island with nice beaches. She also went to Pearl Harbor and saw a real submarine and the remains of USS Arizona ship which was bombed in World War II.

 
Anika’s favorite international place is India because she gets to see her grandparents and cousins. She saw a beautiful temple in New Delhi and is still eagerly waiting to see the Taj Mahal! She also enjoyed Paris, France. She thought that the view of Paris, from the Eiffel Tower’s topmost point was beautiful! To see the original Mona Lisa painting in a museum called Louvre was also exciting! Anika enjoys cuisines from different countries, the Chinese ‘Hot & Sour Soup’ being her favorite.

 Anika’s goals in life are to just be the best person that she could be, never give up and do her hardest! She wants to be a lawyer because she wants to be able to help people.

 Anika admires her mom and dad the most because she thinks they are so hard-working, loyal, respectful, smart, extremely kind and they are the best parents she knows that she could possibly have! She also wants to be a good role model to her sister.
    
 Anika loves working in teams! She feels that with team work a lot can be  accomplished and people can learn from each other. She loves to challenge herself and help others. She knows team mates are great people to work with, and that is what she likes about being in the mission - teamwork!

 Her hobbies are playing the piano, tae-kwon-do, sports, reading and collecting international coins. She has been taking piano lessons since she was 6 yrs old and tae-kwon-do since she was 5 yrs old. Her motto is “A winner never quits and a quitter never wins”.  

 She loves being a part of the Mission and hopes that the experience stays as a memory for the rest of her life. She is confident the mission to the moon will go well!