Photo Courtesy of Don Kiriella
Being bored during quarantine can be a struggle for many, but doing anything creative can keep your mind busy. SUNY Old Westbury senior Don Kiriella is doing just that by writing two children’s books.
The idea of writing two books during quarantine came to Kiriella during the height of the pandemic after transitioning into conducting classes remotely, and there were times where he wanted to keep himself occupied. “It stems from my other work that I was conducting while I was doing research,” said Kiriella. During his sophomore year in high school, he started writing books as a hobby. His first children’s book that he had written and published during his senior year was called The Bullied Tomato,which was released in 2017. The book focuses on raising awareness for bullying and ways to help stop the issue. “The message is more implicit in the book, that’s the biggest thing. I really do believe that kids are more receptive to a message like ‘bullying is wrong,’ said Kiriella.
Kiriella came up with the idea of writing the book after he had overheard a conversation that his mother had with a family friend who knew a young man from his Sri Lankan community, a few years older than Kiriella, that had committed suicide due to bullying from his peers. Kiriella himself also went through bullying when he was in elementary school.
He continues to raise awareness of bullying with his two new books one called The Little Cashew Nut(released on June 12th) and the other, The Red Blue and Yellow Friends(released on July 3rd). He came up with the idea of the main character being a cashew nut which was inspired by his mother. “The idea was inspired by my mom who mentioned cashew nuts that blossom in these little apple type things,” he said. “I don’t know, it’s a weird concept. At first, they look hard and ugly, but once they bloom, they look beautiful.”
When asked about the social issue of adolescent suicide rates increasing nationwide, he stated: “It’s really sad that kids are taking their lives due to a horrible epidemic. That’s why I really think it’s important to try and implement programs because the thing is as of now, they already have speakers coming into our schools but it’s very spaced out within a six-month period once or twice. A speaker would come in and give a heartfelt story on how their child or someone else was affected by bullying.”
Kiriella is part of the 3+4 program known as Biological Sciences and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine(BS/DO), a combined bachelor and a doctorate degree in which SUNY Old Westbury pairs up with New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine(NYITCOM) for students to earn their bachelor’s degree in three years, followed by a year of medical studies at NYIT.
Kiriella has plans on pursuing a career in child development, hoping to become a psychiatrist. He also wants to help kids who are bullied by their peers or feel alone and don’t have anyone to talk to. “I really think I can relate and try to help them with the difficult period of their lives,” he said.
