Episode 3: Esha Kode & Sanjana Chekuri - Mental Health Organization "Happy 2 Thrive", College During a Pandemic, Importance of Shadowing, and more Health Outlook with Anirudh Maddali

Welcome to Health Outlook, a podcast and interview series focused on helping pre-health students understand various fields within the world of healthcare. Each episode, I interview pre-health students, health professionals, and anyone else doing meaningful work or service in healthcare. 

This episode features an amazing conversation with 2 fellow pre-med students, Esha Kode, and Sanjana Chekuri, who are founders of a mental health non-profit organization, Happy 2 Thrive. Esha is a freshman at The College of New Jersey, studying psychology. She is a social entrepreneur, mental health advocate, and the first-ever Miss Teen India Worldwide. Sanjana is a junior at Rutgers University. She is also a social entrepreneur, mental health advocate, model, and dancer. Both Esha and Sanjana shared great stories and even some valuable advice for other pre-health students!


I believe many people will benefit from our discussion of their current experiences in attending college during a pandemic, their origins of interest in medicine, and their experiences in shadowing and clinical care settings. In relation to their mental health organization Happy 2 Thrive, we also discussed: how they started and grew their organization as well as some possible future plans to grow and spread their message. Lastly, we discussed the effect of social media and their modeling and pageant careers on their own mental health. This was a very entertaining and informative conversation, and I believe any aspiring physician, whether you’re in high school, college, or even further in the process, will be able to take something away from this episode!