Aakanksha Balaji, 2025 Michigan Pathfinder Cohort
With a rich cultural history that goes back thousands of years, Indian Classical Dance is known for its expressive movement, precise footwork, and geometric poses. Trained dancers are able to tell entire stories and convey complex ideas all within a single, finely tuned routine.
When you think about it, it’s much like a well-written mathematical proof. Perhaps that’s why Aakanksha Balaji enjoys this style of dance so much.
Aakanksha – “Akshu” to her friends – is nine years old and headed into 4th grade. In terms of math aptitude, however, she’s doing middle school work.
From very early in her life, Akshu has stood apart from her peers. At just 13 months old, her mother, Vaishnavi, noticed that her daughter was flying through early-development foundations – shapes, names, and concepts – at blinding speed. As a first-time mother, Vaishnavi says, she didn’t immediately recognize just how unique her daughter’s abilities were. But Akshu’s teachers did when she hit school age.
“In kindergarten,” Akshu recalls, “we were learning a lot of stuff that seemed very easy to me. It felt like I’d already learned everything we were going over.”
Her teachers began bringing in more advanced materials from home to keep Akshu engaged. They soon pointed the family toward the district’s gifted and talented program.
Like a solo dance performance, taking centerstage can be exhilarating, but it can also come with feelings of pressure and isolation. “I like being advanced, but I enjoy other people also being advanced so I can be with them. I’m really shy, but I don’t really like being by myself either.”
That feeling of being special, and often alone because of it, is familiar to many Stars. But thankfully, Akshu’s situation is unique. Her district – Avondale School District – has nine Pathfinder Stars in third and fourth grades, thanks in large part to Michelle Gierman, Avondale’s Gifted and Talented Ed Coordinator.
For Vaishnavi, National Math Stars offers an important sense of community as well as multiple paths for her daughter’s academic growth. “To me, it’s about making sure she’s not the smartest person in the room,” Vaishnavi says. “…which I haven’t always been so successful at,” she adds with a laugh.
Vaishnavi has gotten very involved, helping lead virtual parent groups, where families across the country compare notes on camps and competitions. “Having this network across the country is huge for me,” she explains.
“National Math Stars allows me to talk to a lot of other very smart people,” Akshu explains. “I can make friends, and we can learn from each other.”
Akshu regularly collaborates with two classmates in particular: Clara and Hwain. Together, they work through contest-style problems and check each other’s answers. Through National Math Stars, the three entered the GAIM competition, where their team took second place at the regional level. All three are looking forward to the AMC 8 competition next year.
In addition to her GAIM success, Akshu has been racking up an impressive series of achievements. She received a medal for her perfect score at the Continental Mathematics League competition, where her team also won National Champions (1st place). She received a Felt Patch in Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS) for landing in the top 50% of scorers. Felt Patches are considered especially impressive for younger students.
For all multitalented Stars, mathematics is only part of the picture. In addition to performing Indian classical dance, Akshu writes fiction and swims competitively. She studies experimental physics in a small class led by a Princeton lecturer, organized by the Davidson Young Scholars program. She plays violin in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s youth program, and is one of its youngest members.
Next year will bring more of everything: AMC 8, new dances, more time spent with Pathfinder classmates, new chapters of her books, another season in the pool, and additional performances with the orchestra. Vaishnavi will keep collaborating with parents across the country and watching her daughter’s abilities and ambitions bloom.
Akshu will keep doing what she does best – learning fast and bringing as many friends along with her as she can.
