California

Hi, I'm Aanika! I live in the Bay Area of California and I am a freshman in high school. In my free time, I enjoy reading, making art, listening to music, and playing sports. I also love singing, dancing, traveling, baking with my brother, and spending time with my friends and family. I am a competitive badminton player and a long distance endurance cyclist. I have been training for a 100km ride with my mother.

I was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis when I was 9 years old and diligently wore a total of 3 braces for 4 and a half years. I have an s-shaped spine with a 40 degree thoracic curve and a 30 degree lumbar curve. I no longer wear a brace and I am currently doing Schroth physical therapy for my spine.

Being the leader of the Curvy Girls Bay Area group, I aim to create a space where girls can just be girls and not be known for the condition they have. Support groups are meant to offer support and I aim to do just that. Having a great community around me while I went through my journey with scoliosis really changed the way that I see it. I always had an amazingly supportive group of people around me whether it be my friends at school, my teachers, my doctors, my coaches, and especially my family. I hope to let other girls who are going through their scoliosis journey know that because of Curvy Girls, there is a great amount of people from all over the world ready to support them.