Shivi Tripathi has been involved in several community outreach projects throughout her high school tenure. 

Most of these service engagements have centered around a common theme – helping the younger generation.  

“A lot of the work that I do within community service is focused on the younger generations and youth, because I’ve personally grown up with these students,” said Tripathi, a senior at Eastside High School (EHS). “I’ve seen how real issues like mental health and…not having access to resources…I’ve seen those personally affect students in my own school community and around me. So, that’s kind of what has been driving me to kind of focus on community service, specifically for youth.” 

A current example of Tripathi’s volunteer work centered on youth is serving as a mentor for ENGin. 

According to its website, ENGin [pronounced “engine] “is a global nonprofit advancing social and economic development in Ukraine by building a critical mass of globally connected, English-fluent citizens.” 

Since its launch in March 2020, ENGin has served 29,000 students with the help of 26,000 volunteers.  

Currently, the organization has roughly 8,000 active volunteers, according to Erin Hogan, senior volunteer recruitment manager for ENGin.  

Tripathi first got involved with ENGin in November 2023 by way of a social media post. She was a sophomore at EHS at the time.  

“I just thought it was a really unique way [to get involved in community outreach],” Tripathi said. “It’s not something I’d heard of before…” 

Tripathi said when mentors come on board, they can choose to have either one-on-one sessions with a Ukrainian student or mini groups. She noted that she picked the one-on-one session to start. 

“I…put in my preferences for age and fluency and things like that. And then after you get assigned a student, you have weekly video calls with them,” Tripathi said. 

Hogan said ENGin serves “Ukrainians ages nine and up” and accepts “volunteers ages 13 and up.” 

“We do our best to match people peer to peer. But at minimum, we match minors with minors and adults with adults,” she said. 

According to Tripathi, the weekly video calls with a mentor and student last for an hour, with the intent of having “informal” and “casual conversations” that will indirectly help the student be fluent with English. 

“Her [Tripathi] commitment to doing that consistently throughout the years that she has been with us is one of the things that makes her a really great volunteer,” Hogan said. 

Tripathi said ENGin emphasizes fostering connections between the mentor and learners, noting that it recommends mentors keep their student(s) the entire time they are in the program. 

“I’ve had one student since…joining the organization in 2023,” she said. “And then I also added another student earlier this year…So now we have a mini group with both of those students.” 

Tripathi said the students’ ages vary from 12 to 14.  

Also, this year, Tripathi was chosen alongside 30 other volunteers worldwide to be an ENGin Ambassador. 

Hogan said the ENGin Ambassador Program is an “international group” made up of a picked set of students at the high school level. 

“I run just a small cohort of select volunteers who have shown initiative [and] been in the program for probably a while,” Hogan said. “They apply. I choose a few of them, and then they participate in additional meetings with me – about six of them over this fall…semester. And then they work on some kind of special project, trying to spread ENGin’s mission a little bit farther.” 

Being selected as an ENGin Ambassador is the latest accomplishment for Tripathi, who has also been recognized for STEM achievement, earned awards from science and engineering fairs and represented Florida in the National FBI Youth Leadership Program in Quantico, Virginia. 

While being a part of the Ambassador program, Tripathi said she has had the chance to communicate with folks from places across the U.S. and world, including Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Vietnam. 

“Everyone is just working toward that same goal in trying to build awareness of this opportunity within their communities,” she said. 

Tripathi reflected on the impact that ENGin has had on her personally. 

“When I first started working with the program, I just thought it’d be something where I would help these students build their confidence and their skills in English. But honestly, it’s been much more than that,” she said. “I’ve gotten to learn a lot more about the Ukrainian culture, just from talking to them. This [has] also taught me a lot for patience, walking everyone slowly through the conversations and being able to understand their perspectives.” 

Tripathi said ENGin is a “very valuable experience” for both volunteers and learners, noting it’s simple to get involved and establish that connection. 

Anyone who wishes to join ENGin as a volunteer can do so by visiting the volunteer section on its website. 

There are three requirements for volunteers, including being fluent in English, having a strong internet connection, and the ability to commit to one hour a week for at least 10 to 12 weeks. 

“It’s an amazing team, and it’s an amazing project. And it’s been really popular so far,” Hogan said.  

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.