Even before graduating in 2018, Anya Sen had already made an enormous impression upon the Caedmon community for her devotion to girls’ education. Like many around the world, she was inspired by the story of Malala Yousafzai.
Anya spoke at assemblies about the difficult plight girls face around the world who want to attend school and constantly engaged her classmates and teachers on the challenges they endure. Like Malala, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, Anya’s activism has only grown since she left Caedmon.
The Horace Mann School ninth grader, who also attends the prestigious Julliard Pre-College for percussion, took her activism to the streaming services recently. Apple TV + discovered her in preparation for Season 2 of their popular “Dear…” biography program. More about Anya’s latest remarkable achievement below...
How did Apple TV +'s "Dear ..." producers get in touch with you and what was it like going to Los Angeles to do the show?
A casting agent reached out to me on my Instagram account that I had specifically created for my activism (@anya_activism), after she had done her research to identify me. I’ve been a girls’ education activist since I was 7, and on this account, I also collaborate with other activists to spread awareness about the cause and encourage people to take action. The casting agent set up a call with my dad so he could make sure it was legitimate. After she told us about the show and we confirmed its authenticity, further members of the show’s production team helped me with the logistics. For example, someone helped me edit the letter that was to be read on the show, someone else helped set up flight/hotel details so we could travel to LA for the taping, etc. The portion of the episode I was in was filmed on 2 separate days. The first day, the filming took place in a house in LA that was decorated as if it were my room. The second day, the filming took place in various parts of a school, to mimic other settings I talked about in my letter. The experience as a whole was really exciting! It was really cool to see so many cameramen, producers and directors. Between filming, I also attended a studio school, ate lunch with my dad and sister, Ayesha, etc. Something that was also pretty exciting about the whole experience was that the person who created Beyoncé’s wigs was the person who straightened my hair before the filming! Overall the entire experience of taping and otherwise was really enjoyable and unique! In the evening after the filming, we also managed to do a quick sightseeing of LA - and that was fun too!
In a couple of sentences, tell us why we should all advocate for girls' education around the world.
Girls’ education is so important in so many ways in our society. Not only does it provide opportunities for girls who make up about half of the kids/youth population, to pursue their dreams, but it also does so much more. Girls’ education promotes economic growth, creates peace, saves lives, encourages political leadership, etc. It is so important to advocate for girls’ education to ensure a better future and a society in which all children get equal access to the same educational opportunities, regardless of their gender. Overall in the world, there are over 130 million girls out of school, and it’s so important that we help them.
What are the best parts about being an activist and what are the most difficult aspects of your work?
The best part about being an activist is being able to share your opinions and spread awareness for causes you’re passionate about, in many different and creative ways. One of the aspects of being an activist that I’ve loved is being able to help the cause in a variety of ways, such as a clothing drive, bake sale, bookmark making competition, lemonade stands, news articles, etc. There are so many easy ways to contribute, which is one of the things I love about being an activist! I’d say that one of the most difficult aspects is convincing everyone to support your cause, since many just don’t know enough about the lack of girls’ education globally to support the cause or because they are already supporting some other cause and do not want to get involved in another cause due to time constraints - this is why spreading awareness is so important.
