The COVID-19 pandemic, for all the hardship it has taken on the world, was as good a time as any for her to complete her autobiography, “The Reincarnation of Radha,” which was published last year.
Gosaynie, an anatomy teacher at Westfield Preparatory High School, has done meditation for many years. She started with transcendental meditation, popularized by the Beatles, and worked her way to siddha meditation, which requires multiple courses for weeks away from home in a secluded area. “The Reincarnation of Radha” is about Gosaynie’s experiences while on that journey.
“Just the fact that I was able to put it down on paper was actually very healing for me,” she said.
With illustrations from her niece adorning the pages, the book is a modern tale of the love between Radha, a Hindu goddess, and Krishna, and Radha’s rebirth in human form.
Gosaynie has been in education since 1995. She started teaching biology and English and also was a school counselor at The Thamer International School in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, until 2006. She was a biology instructor and a lab coordinator at the Early College Alliance of Eastern Michigan University, a biology and forensic instructor at the Academy for Business and Technology, an English Language Arts enrichment instructor at Schoolcraft College, an Advanced Placement Biology and Project Lead The Way-Human Body Systems instructor at a Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Alex & Marie Manoogian School, and an adult English as a Second Language instructor in the Dearborn Public Schools District before coming to Westfield Prep.
She has been at Westfield Prep only since January but has loved the support she has received and is proud of the school’s diversity.
“I love the atmosphere,” she said. “Our administrators are so supportive, like (Principal Katie) Sims, (Dean of High School Samantha) Lynch, and (Assistant Principal Kurtis) Dollison.”
Gosaynie has had an immediate impact on Westfield Prep’s scholars and practices. During her turn monitoring student behavior at lunch, she noticed burritos were being served in plastic wrap and apples, bananas, and cranberries in sealed plastic bags that were being thrown out, so she located a church group that is attempting to feed Detroit inner-city residents. Soon, she purchased a three-tiered cart on wheels and each day went around the lunchroom collecting unused food so that Westfield Prep could donate a box of food every week from February to June.
Last year, she recommended six of her students for the QuestBridge Match Scholarship, which gives high-achieving, low-income students the possibility of getting a full scholarship to a prestigious college. QuestBridge received more than 16,500 applications last year and matched its 45 college partners with 1,674 finalists.
Gosaynie helped two students at a previous school get matched with colleges, one at Brown and one at Penn. The Westfield Prep students will have to wait to see if they are selected later this year as seniors, but she said the school’s Moral Focus teachings have them set up well.
“What I like about QuestBridge is their recommendation process is not just the teacher uploading a letter and you’re done,” Gosaynie said. “They actually ask about things that are our Moral Focus topics that we do in school. ‘Tell me how does the student embody this?’ ‘How does a student embody integrity? How do they embody resilience? How do they, you know, it’s awesome and you have to give them an example of something. That’s what I love about it.”
Keep up the excellent work, Ms. Gosaynie!