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As graduation nears at Oakton High School, seniors Jovina Arulandu and Victoria Yu are leaving behind a nonprofit that has brought hands-on STEM lessons to younger students and helped provide a hearing aid to a Reston girl.
The longtime friends created ImagineHere by combining Yu’s interest in engineering and design with Arulandu’s passion for medicine and personal experience with hearing loss. Their work has grown to include educational programs across Fairfax County, a children’s book about hearing safety and fundraising to improve access to hearing aids.
From One STEM Class to a Nonprofit
Yu began organizing STEM outreach classes during her freshman year at Oakton. Her idea grew from the engineering and building programs she attended as a child at Oakton Elementary School.
Wanting to give younger students similar opportunities, she started teaching interactive engineering and STEM classes at the elementary school. The program later expanded to other Fairfax County schools and libraries.
Students explored computer-aided design, coding and engineering through projects, competitions and design challenges. Yu said she wanted the activities to make children excited about creating things.
Arulandu joined the effort after meeting Yu during their freshman year. While Yu focused on engineering, Arulandu brought an interest in medicine shaped by an accident she experienced as a child.
During a family trip to India when Arulandu was 4, a small rock became lodged in her ear while she slept. Doctors removed it through multiple surgeries, but the damage caused permanent hearing loss in her right ear.
Arulandu received a hearing aid last year. She described the improvement as dramatic and life-changing.
Together, the students developed their outreach work into ImagineHere, a nonprofit centered on STEM education, creativity and hearing-loss awareness.
A Childhood Accident Inspires a Book
Arulandu’s experience led the friends to write “Hear that, Squiggle Squiggle?,” a children’s book intended to explain hearing safety and ear health in an accessible way.
The story follows two curious friends investigating mysterious noises in a forest while learning how to protect their hearing. Yu and Oakton graduate Elizabeth Brown created the illustrations.
Arulandu wanted the book to show children how an ordinary accident can quickly become serious, as hers did.
After publishing the book in 2025, the students incorporated it into ImagineHere’s broader educational and health outreach. Book sales and fundraisers generated nearly $2,000 toward a hearing aid for a girl in Reston.
Arulandu later received a video showing the girl trying the device for the first time. She said the emotional moment affirmed the value of choosing a mission with a visible, personal effect.
Teachers and Students Help the Project Grow
Arulandu and Yu credit their teachers, mentors and classmates with supporting their work throughout high school. Yu said Oakton’s community of motivated students encouraged them to contribute more while supporting one another.
Her commitment to service also came from watching her mother volunteer and brighten people’s days. Seeing that immediate community impact made Yu want to pursue service herself.
Arulandu said high school taught her to concentrate on work she genuinely values, despite peer pressure and outside expectations. She credited math and computer science teacher Harnam Arneja with helping her understand that meaningful impact depends on the choices a person makes and the passion behind them.
Other Oakton teachers helped revise the students’ manuscript before publication, offering suggestions about its language and illustrations. Arulandu said their involvement demonstrated concern for the students as people, not only for their academic performance.
Their Next Chapters
Arulandu will attend the University of California, Berkeley this fall to study biophysics through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship program. Inspired by the physicians who treated her as a child, she hopes to become an ear, nose and throat surgeon.
Yu will study electrical engineering at Rice University and plans to pursue work involving energy and environmental sustainability.
More than 15 student volunteers have taught classes and assisted with ImagineHere events over the years. As its founders prepare to leave Oakton, they hope younger volunteers will carry the nonprofit forward and expand its programs across Fairfax County.
Their goal is to keep giving children opportunities to explore STEM, creativity and service—and to discover the kind of curiosity that could shape their futures.