Eesha on Self-Leadership, Stage Confidence & Surviving University Transition

Welcome back to Flashback Files — the podcast for students, recent grads, and young professionals who want to reflect on how early experiences shape confidence, identity, and leadership.Today I’m joined by Eesha, a third-year Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour student at McMaster University. Eesha has:• 16+ years of training and teaching in North Indian classical dance• 9+ years in Toastmasters youth gavel clubs and leadership • A published poetry collection from her “COVID project”In this conversation we cover:• How one hour a week of dance over 16 years built real discipline and cultural identity• What Toastmasters actually is, and how it changed her relationship with the stage• Practical ways to read a room and connect with an audience• The hard reality of the high school → university transition (and why she didn’t admit she was struggling at the time)• Building routines from a low point — starting with the smallest possible step• “Psychological inertia,” and why tackling the easiest problem first can change everything• Navigating family expectations as a psych / neuro student in a family of engineers and lawyers• Why she’s a 7/10 confident in her career path — and why that’s enough for now• The pressure of social media “success stories” vs building a meaningful, grounded lifeIf you’re presenting at school, trying to show up at work, or quietly wondering if you “belong” in your program, Eesha’s story offers a very real, very relatable perspective from someone who’s still in the middle of the journey.