Student profile

Accepted into USC, Oxford College (Emory)

GPA: 3.9

SAT: 35

Extracurricular activities: Model UN: investment bank, president of nonprofit on financial literacy


Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

 

I am a Hindu. This means that my family and I fast on auspicious (lucky) days, pray to Gods such as Shiva, Vishnu, and Parvathi, and eat vada and poolihara. Growing up, my weekends were filled with potlucks and pujas with people from my own culture. I was and will always remain thankful for my community. But when I started 9th grade at a new school, I realized there are so many other cultures I knew nothing about. 

 

In 9th grade, I joined the Teen Interfaith Council. The Teen Interfaith Council is a small group of high school students from various backgrounds and religions. Our goal is to foster a mutual understanding of and to experience different perspectives. When I first joined, Hinduism seemed a world away from Christianity or Judaism. While we all related as teenagers and friends, our religions and cultures seemed separate from one another. Throughout my time with this group, however, that notion began to change. 

 

One evening, we went to a mosque that had received a hate letter addressed, “To the Children of Satan.” The crowd was full of people of every race, religion, and age; we heard from the mosque’s Imam, a Rabbi, a congressman, and several other community leaders. Speaker after speaker took the stage and shared his or her reaction to the letter. Their words took me by surprise. None of them spoke with a single ounce of hatred; not even the Imam, the leader of the mosque who had received the hate letter. “Thank you my brothers and sister for giving us all your love and support. Though we may come from different religions, by coming here today you all showed that we are a community.” I was asked to give a speech to represent the teen community. By the time I took the stage, I realized that the speech I had written, about how distressed I was, was not what I wanted to say.

 

This was my first time speaking at a large event, and I felt a bit overwhelmed. But as I looked into the audience, I saw smiles everywhere. Kids were giving me thumbs up and people mouthed encouragement. Realizing how kind and supportive my community was, I didn’t feel so overwhelmed anymore. I conveyed my gratitude and joy for being able to live in this community. I was honest; I said yes, I did feel anger and bewilderment when I read the letter, but the bulk of my speech changed towards appreciation. I was thankful to witness both the strength of a mosque faced with terrible hatred and the unwavering support of the surrounding community.

 

At the end of the speeches, all of the speakers recited a small prayer from their own religion. As I listened, I realized that the underlying meaning of all the prayers was the same. Their prayers expressed love, compassion, and strength. As we prayed, I was reminded of a saint from my own religion. During his lifetime, Sri Ramakrishna, a revered Hindu saint, wanted to dispel the idea that there is only one correct religion. Thus, he practiced several religions, including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Jainism. By doing this, he learned to appreciate the differences and embrace the similarities. I have known Sri Ramakrishna’s story from a young age but, after this event, I finally understood the meaning of his teachings. I value my own faith as well as others much greater than I did before. With this, I make an effort to learn more about my religion and the multitude of religions surrounding my community. The Teen Interfaith Council and the opportunities it has provided such as memorials and charity events, have shown me that, even when faced with hatred, it is possible to find love. Beyond that, I have realized that maybe none of us are very different from each other after all.