A Scent of Success: Recent Episodes
Anagha and Priyasha Chakravarti
Welcome! We are Anagha and Priyasha, 21-year-old twin sisters originally from India. We lived in the Philippines for 10 years and are now rising seniors at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. This podcast is all about trying to be and do better one step at a time - a journey of betterment and success which we hope you will join us in. We may include guests and scholarly research in our podcast, as well as some solo episodes. Join our twin sister chats and reflections about the social, cultural, emotional, academic, professional aspects that are relevant in our 20s.
This is our first solo episode hosted by Priyasha! I am passionate about journalism and the media and how they shape our understanding of global affairs and public policy.
This episode is a discussion of how I am learning to better navigate the news industry - through journalism classes, internships, and conversations with journalists. The news space is often very polarised and partisan, and it may be difficult to parse through content to find what we are looking for.
The episode poses several questions: Where do you get your news from and why? What is objectivity in journalism and is it a realistic goal?
I share some of the insight I have gathered and applied to become a better news consumer. This is an ongoing journey and as I progress in my study of journalism, I hope to understand the news and media industry even more.
Hi everyone! We missed podcasting but we are back with an episode on tackling transitions. Transitions are a difficult time of uncertainty and anxiety for many - whether it be graduating high school, graduating college (as we will next year), or moving countries etc. In this episode, we reflect on pieces of advice we wish we had gotten when we graduated high school. Many of these points are still relevant today as we look ahead to our college graduation in 2025. We hope you enjoy listening to us reflect and ramble, and stay tuned for more episodes.
This episode is another one of our "Real Talks," which we have done in the past where we dive into candid conversations and share our experiences/insights regarding a topic. In this episode, we talk all things dating and other types of connections, breaking down dating buzz words like "situationships" and "ghosting", and sharing our experiences. We ask each other questions about first crushes and first dates and share a segment of "Twin Takes," as well. The episode concludes with a classic "Recipe for Success," where we talk about ways to best navigate the dating world and become the best version of yourself. Hope you enjoy!
We are back with a summer episode! Tune in to hear us talk all about how we have been approaching and navigating pre professional culture in college. We generally discuss and reflect on our personal experience, timelines, building employable skills, jobs, and internships in different countries. We hit on the pros and cons of pre-professional culture too, acknowledging that it looks different for everyone depending on your context and career goals, and as rising juniors in college who just wrapped their third internship - it is especially relevant for us. There will be useful insight for anyone interested and we thank you for tuning in.
Hi everyone! Hope you have been liking our back to back episodes - we are still on summer break so are posting more! This was one of our favorite episodes because we called each other out and shared personal stories! We took the attachment quiz, which you should take with us here, and analysed each of the attachment styles. According to Psychology Today, there are 4 main types. Listen to find out more! It is important to be aware of our attachment styles and that of others so we can be the best version of ourselves. This was an enlightening episode for us to film and we hope you feel the same.
Hello everyone! In this episode, we talk about our first summer back since starting college, with a special focus on being international students. We currently attend college in the US but also call India and the Philippines home. Topics covered include internships, work-life balance, family/friends, routines, travel and more. How to have a fun yet productive summer? Hope you enjoy this chatty and reflective episode.
Hello hello:)) In this episode, we talk all about friendships in college! We talk about how high school friendships may compare to college friendships, the different types of friends you may encounter in college, and how to approach them. This is based on what we have seen, heard, and experienced - not to be taken as an objective fact that is applicable to all experiences of course hehe :D. Enjoy listening and we hope this episode was insightful!
Happy new year everyone!! Did you notice the new jingle? It's been a while since we last uploaded as we were busy navigating our first semester of college in person. But as we have been on winter break recently in India, we wanted to film our first episode of 2022 where we talk about different phases related to the word "home." We discuss our experiences being homesick, homebodies, and "homestuck," especially in relation to the pandemic. Through our research and personal experience, we also share some tips associated with each word. Please excuse the background noise - we are currently in our home in India right and background noise is inescapable!
Hopefully you can relate to some of our discussion! Stay safe everyone.
Welcome to Part 2 of our birthday special!! Here are the topics we covered:
1. The more you put in, the more you will get out of an experience
2. Show your appreciation for people
3. Understand the importance of independence and responsibility
4. Invest in interpersonal skills for fun
5. Take yourself out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself in some ways
6. There will always be someone better, but don't let that stop you from showing your potential
7. Think before you speak, educate yourself before forming an opinion
8. Being balanced and bipartisan does not mean that you do not know yourself or your beliefs
9. Put time and effort into conversations and ensure a good balance
10. What you want may not always be what you need and what you need may not always be what you want
Hi everyone!! In honor of our 19th birthday, we wanted to talk about 19 things we have learned and are continuing to implement our lives. This is Part 1 so we will only cover 9 lessons, and Part 2 will cover the other 10. We hope you find our discussion insightful. Here are the topics below:
- Be grateful for the present moment
- Quality vs Quantity in friendships
- The importance of mentorship and giving back
- It’s okay to be a late bloomer
- Don’t compare academic or personal interests and goals in a negative way
- Take time to regain your energy and make time for yourself (prioritise self help and mental health/)
- Asking for help is not a weakness
- Reduce your anxiety or sense of overwhelm about future related things
- Enjoy learning for the sake of learning
Hi everyone! This is a pre-filmed episode from when we were still in back home in the Philippines. It's with a special guest named Chinmayee, a friend we made virtually through an organisation called IBlieve! We lead different projects with her and admire her leadership qualities. In this episode, we talk all about leadership - what it is, what it is not, traits of good leaders, assertiveness, initiative, confidence etc. We also play a fun game of "Who's most likely to" to allow you guys to get to know our friendship dynamic better. This episode was very fun to record and we laughed a lot together, but also learned so much about leadership styles and how to improve as leaders.
Hi guys! We start this episode with an announcement - as we will be starting college soon, we will probably be posting episodes less frequently. Be on the lookout for future episodes though, and we hope you guys will stick with us! This episode is all about the characteristics of Generation Z and the pros and cons. Gen Z has is on track to be the most educated, diverse, technologically addicted, and outspoken generation, but what exactly are the reasons for this? What is the context? We dive into the why and the how, using research from the Forbes Magazine and the Pew Research Center. In addition to this, we both also offer our own insight and observation in terms of the personalities and behaviours of our generation.
The episode ends with a fun "Yay or Nay" segment where we give our opinions on the fashion trends, social media platforms, artists, and books that have dominated our culture. We really tried to provide a balanced argument in this episode but of course, we can't hit on every single aspect. Regardless, we hope that this episode was interesting for you guys! See you soon.
Also, Priyasha says sorry for speaking a bit fast sometimes :>
Sources:
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/14/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far-2/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/nudging-ahead/202012/who-is-generation-z
https://nypost.com/2021/02/13/gen-z-needs-to-start-thinking-critically-about-politics/
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/1118/pages/a-16-year-old-explains-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-generation-z.aspx
https://nypost.com/article/gen-z-fashion-trends-style-aesthetic/
https://www.ypulse.com/article/2019/10/08/the-17-musicians-gen-z-millennials-say-represent-their-generations/
https://www.reditalgroup.com/2020/these-are-gen-zs-favourite-books/
Thank you all for 800 plays! Please ignore some of the background noise as it was raining when we filmed this!! Our episode today is all about overthinking - what it is, causes and effects, and ways to control your thoughts in a healthy manner. Overthinking is something that many people struggle with. In fact, we have had many conversations with each other and our friends about this specific topic and trying to decipher why our mind often wanders or thinks so deeply about irrational things. We bring in some scientific research as well and talk through signs that can help everyone recognise if overthinking is a problem and then working towards overcoming it. Hope this episode was insightful!
Sources:
https://www.thezoereport.com/p/what-causes-overthinking-therapists-psychologists-break-down-this-bad-habit-22911944
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-runaway-mind/202001/are-you-overthinker
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2020/04/20/10-signs-youre-overthinking-and-what-to-do-about-it/?sh=62b5483f2bb8
https://www.newharbinger.com/9781626258426/the-anxious-thoughts-workbook
Hi everyone! Today we have our friend Omar on to talk about some differences between high school and university. We first talk about topics such as social and academic pressures which are relevant in both high school and college. Then Omar gives us advice on how to cope with failures and drastic changes (including homesickness and weather) in college. As recent high school graduates, we both really benefitted from hearing Omar's experience and advice, and we hope you all find it helpful as well!
Hi everyone! This episode is all about gratitude - what it is, how we can develop and deepen our gratitude, and its pros and cons. We bring in research from psychology professors from UC Davis and Yale University and also talk about ways we express gratitude in our daily lives. This episode is to help ourselves and others understand how we can be more grateful every day. Some methods include savoring, present-thinking, gratitude journaling, saying thank you more often, expressing kindness, and investing in experiences over material goods. Sources below!
Gratitude quiz: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/gratitude
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/6Emmons-BlessingsBurdens.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/hedonic-adaptation#:~:text=Hedonic%20adaptation%20refers%20to%20the,%2C%20%26%20Scollon%2C%202006).
Hi everyone! Today we are joined by our friend Marcela to spill the tea on relationships!! Since Anagha and I are both inexperienced, we thought that having Marcela on would add a more experienced perspective to the episode. We go through the different love languages, decipher green and red flags, and have discussions on topics ranging from first date ideas, payment on the first date, and the dynamic with your friends and family during your relationship.
The episode ends with a Recipe for Success segment where we talk about ways to better yourself before getting into a relationship! We hope you guys find this episode relatable in some aspects and also inclusive - we are all in support of loving whoever you want and whenever you feel ready.
Hi guys! This episode is all about anger, the types of anger, how to control it, and much more! Anger is a common emotion and not a sign of weakness - instead, it is an evolutionary mechanism that humans developed to recognize triggers and take action. But when it is not managed productively or expressed rationally, anger can escalate into conflict and negative emotions. We also share personal insight towards the end and open up about our own anger episodes. This episode means a lot to us as we definitely put ourselves out there in that we admit that anger is one of our flaws. We hope that through this conversation and research, we can learn to become more intentional when it comes to our anger management skills.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/anger
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-savvy-psychologist/202007/why-being-angry-is-okay-and-even-helpful
TIMESTAMPS BELOW. This is a general college Q&A where we compiled some typical questions we get from your younger friends. Once again, we are not experts, but we do enjoy reflecting on our college experience and hopefully offering some tips to help demystify your experience. Feel free to message us on Instagram @scentofsuccess_ if you have more questions :)
[TIMESTAMPS]:
1:15: IB and College Applications (predicted scores, IB subjects/majors, how IB is viewed by US colleges, time management)
7:30: Standardized testing (applying test-optional, tips)
11:00: College lists (the importance of ranks, how to find a great university)
15:55: College Essays for the US and the UK (how to be satisfied with them)
20:25: General US application questions (extracurriculars, package building)
22:25: General UK application questions (conditional offers)
24:15: General questions overall (pressure, parental conflicts, how to stand out)
27:03: Application timelines and rounds for the US (EA vs ED vs REA)
Be sure to check out College Conversations Part 1 where we talk about more in depth college lists and timelines for the US, and College Conversations Part 2 where we talk all about essays!
Have you ever felt judged by someone? What about judging someone yourself? Judgement is very common and almost innate in human beings, for reasons both good and bad. We both struggle with being overly critical of others sometimes, so we wanted to film an episode breaking down what judgment is, the pros and cons, share some personal anecdotes, and also discuss ways to engage in constructive criticism. We hope you can relate to our conversations and take away some tips on how to be less judgemental of others, and how to handle judgement (from friends, family, or society) in a better way!
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/bringing-sex-focus/201204/whos-judmental-five-key-symptoms
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-knowledge/201305/making-judgments-and-being-judgmental
Today's episode is all about being open to learning and having your own personal knowledge challenged. It is more of a short and rambly episode where we talk about concepts like the backfire effect and verbal hedging, in an attempt to understand why human beings love to "know," and love to be right. But what are the consequences of this? We argue that it can lead to an increase in polarization and a decrease in our level of tolerance. When we are able to set aside our beliefs and absorb and interpret new information, that is when we can learn objectively. Our main takeaway is the difference between "being a knower and be right, being a learner, and getting it right," as quoted by emotions researcher and professor Brené Brown.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lying-the-philosophers-couch/201912/why-do-we-want-be-right
https://aliabdaal.com/why-do-we-like-to-be-correct-2/
[TIMESTAMPS BELOW]
In this episode, we talk all about college essays! Based on our experience, we talked mainly about the US college essays (common application and supplements), but we also touch on UK essays. A disclaimer again - we are not experts but enjoy giving advice and sharing our experiences!
Timestamps:
2:30: Common Application Essay
11:35: Supplemental Essays Introduction
12:30: Why "College X" Essay
18:50: Why "Major X" Essay
26:14: Extracurricular Essay
31:27: Community Essay
35:44: Short Answer Essays
40:05: UK Personal Statement
45:37: Final advice and takeaways
Helpful links:
Priyasha's College Essay Advice series
The College Essay Guy
Prep Scholar Blog
[TIMESTAMPS PROVIDED]
Hi everyone! Today we will be covering an important topic that hits close to home - the COVID Crisis in India. We have our childhood friend Titiksha on to hear her first-hand perspective on the situation.
Timestamps:
1:25: Present situation in India and the second wave of COVID
4:30: Reasons behind the current spread
6:30: The role of culture and religion in the spike in COVID
10:30: The role of social media in spreading awareness and asking for support
13:40: India's vaccine policies
18:50: India's trajectory/past with COVID in 2020
25:40: Unity and hope
27:10: Spectrum and discussion questions
Please do not hesitate to message us if you feel that any of the information or opinion we provided was inaccurate. We hope you stay safe!
Donation links:
https://www.lifestyleasia.com/ind/culture/events/india-covid-19-crisis-donate-charity-verified-organisations/
https://zenerations.carrd.co/#indiacrisis
Helpful sources:
https://meridian-magazine.com/india-gasps-for-air-all-i-can-do-is-watch/ : Tanvi's article
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56561095
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/asia/india-covid-19-infections.html
In this episode, we talk about... talking!! That's right - we talk about all the things that prevent a good conversation from happening (like small talk, social awkwardness, and awkward silences), and discuss ways to have better conversations both online and offline. How do you get past the small talk stage? Is small talk really as bad as we make it out to be? What makes an awkward silence? We share our personal insights and pet peeves - like receiving short replies and getting seen zoned - and talk about ways we want to improve as conversationalists. We hope you enjoyed this more rambly and personal episode! Many of the things we talk about in this episode are things we are trying to get better at. Everyone has their own way of talking online and offline, so we definitely are not trying to impose our opinion on others :) Our discussion was inspired by Ali Abdaal and his podcast "Not Overthinking."
Helpful links:
https://aliabdaal.com/small-talk-and-social-awkwardness-podcast-highlights/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-ooze/202001/why-small-talk-is-big-deal
https://www.healthline.com/health/socially-awkward
Thank you for 400+ plays!! Today we will be talking about friendships with our friend, Tim! The three of us often have deep conversations about friendships and we felt that he would add a fresh new perspective to this topic. We talk about red and green flags in friendships, play a fun game of "Who's more likely to," and reflect on how we can be better friends ourselves. Of course, we are not experts, but as seniors in high school, we have had a lot of experience with friendships - both good and bad. We hope you enjoy this episode. Thank you Tim for being such a great guest!
Hi everyone! This is the start of our College Conversations series. Since we just finished our college application cycle, we believe that our experiences and advice may be helpful! Today we will be talking about the college timeline and preparation phase, and how to determine your college list. Many of our younger friends often ask us about college and this series is great for any prospective college student! Just a disclaimer that a lot of the information is US-centric (especially the college timeline) as we mainly applied there. Also, we are not experts by any means, just students who have experienced both success and rejection during the process! Good luck and feel free to message us if you have questions!
Welcome to our 10th episode! Today we will be talking all about activism and social media. Why are Gen Z so outspoken and engaged in political activism? What are the pros and cons of digital activism? How can I refrain from performance activism. We answer all these questions and more throughout this episode. Just as a reminder, most of the content here is solely based on our personal experience and opinion. Everyone has a different opinion, but we encourage you to discuss, debate, and remain open minded to new perspectives! Lastly, we hope you have something that you are passionate about that you can work towards!
Calling all prospective, current, and former IB students! In this episode, we talk all about important requirements for all full IB diploma students. We break down our episode into 3 sizeable relevant parts: CAS (Creativity, Action, Service), EE (Extended Essay), and TOK (Theory of Knowledge). We share some helpful tips, give advice and information, and reflect on our IB journey over the past 2 years. Hope you guys enjoy have been enjoying this "Into IB" series!
In honor of 250+ plays, we decided to have our first guest on this podcast which is all about Model United Nations! Along with our friend and fellow MUN veteran (delegate, chair, and secretary general of our school) Zeki, we spend this episode talking all about MUN - what it is, why you should join, our experiences with it, mythbusters, and more. Regardless of your past experience, we hope that this episode gives you some new information about MUN and that you consider giving it a shot in high school or in college!
Welcome to Episode 7! Today we are talking all about empathy. We talk about what empathy is, ways to be more empathetic, and evaluate the pros and cons of empathy. Is empathy always good? Can it lead us astray? What is your empathy quotient? All this and more will be covered in this episode. We really enjoyed researching about this and recording this episode - there were definitely some new things that we learned, and we hope you all do as well. Here are some links we used (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201505/empathy-vs-sympathy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz1g1SpD9Zo, https://psychology-tools.com/test/empathy-quotient).
Welcome to our new series - Into IB!! We have been doing the IB Diploma program for almost 2 years now, and we have learned a lot! We want to share our experience and give advice, especially for those entering IB or wondering if they picked the right classes. In this episode, we talk about what the IB diploma program is, why we chose the classes we did, what to keep in mind when choosing your classes, and falsify/verify some myths. Just a reminder that everyone is on their own path and everyone has their own prospects and priorities. There is no one size fits all. Everyone's IB experience is different. We hope this episode was helpful for you guys!
Yay this is our 5th episode! Today we are diving into personalities - introverts, ambiverts, extroverts - and talking about what factors influence personality, and discussing our personality changes over time using the 16 personalities quiz. We bring in Sigmund Freud's Tripartite Theory of Personality (https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html), and Carl Jung's theories around introversion and extroversion. Of course, not everyone can be moulded into one of three personality types. But hopefully you guys still get the opportunity to reflect about your own personality and that of others, in a way to become better versions of ourselves!
Welcome back! Today's episode is all about productivity! We share some personal information, tips on how to be productive, and analyse terms such as "toxic productivity," "perfectionist" and "multi-tasker," We also analyse the 5 pillars of productivity explained in David Allen's book, "Getting Things Done." There is a section towards the end called "Recipe for Success," where we give our own tips! We hope this episode was informative. We are still getting better at using our mics and adjusting our volume, so please bare with any technical mishaps.
Did you notice our new jingle? It was made for us by our friend Nehir Altınkaya, who is so talented!! This episode is about procrastination - what it is, why we do it, different types of procrastinators, and ways to reduce procrastination. We hope this episode has a balance of personal opinions and theories from experts (including Ali Abdaal, and David Allen's book "Getting Things Done!"). A quick disclaimer though - we are not perfect. But we are interested in building better habits and analyzing procrastination theories with you guys, so we hope you find it helpful! Please ignore any technical difficulties (especially with Priyasha's mic), and rambling, as we are still new to this! See you guys in our next episode!
We just changed our podcast name from Inside Out, to A Scent of Success. Not a big change as we just started out anyway - things were bound to change! This is a very short 3 minute episode on what the name means for us and what we hope it means for our audience. Stay tuned for our next episodes which will definitely be longer than this!
Hey guys! We are Anagha and Priyasha, 18 year old twin sisters from India living in the Philippines. This is an introductory episode and as we are very new to this, please forgive our rambling and awkward moments! We talk a little about why we started this podcast, our hopes for it, and episode ideas. We also give you guys an insight into what stage of life we are in, as almost freshmen in university. We talk about our interests, growing up shy, and how we love giving advice and talking to others about what we are passionate about! Also our intro song is quite intense because that is the type of music we like to hear (EDM and beat drops), but we may change it to something more chill soon!!