Socrates once remarked, “The secret of happiness, you see is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” This quote truly resonates with me as I think about my grandma who continuously worked her nimble fingers on the sewing machine trying to make three hundred cloth flowers, in her small village in India. Given the run-down conditions she lived in, she never gave up and always persevered, attempting to support her family in any shape or form. After twenty years of hard work, she immigrated to the U.S. where her only goal was to keep her family prosperous. Her life in India where she would be left hungry several nights is what allowed her to feel the full potential of happiness. Seeking a better life, my grandma was confident that we would no longer experience any downfall. Two decades later, here I am… an American Indian teenager living in suburban New Jersey, far from my grandma’s small rundown village. However, despite my grandma believing that all would be well with our lives, in the most ‘prosperous’ nation, happiness did not come easy in my life either. After continuously having my heritage disregarded and made a mockery of, I locked myself in a bubble in which even I questioned and criticized it. However, after listening to my grandma’s story I was given a different perspective. While my grandma’s life may have seemed sorrowful, she talked about how beautiful her life was and how she was blessed with three amazing children. After reflecting upon my years as a teenager, I noticed how privileged and blessed I am also. I realized that I did not need to prove my worth to gain belonging and a sense of contentment.

As a South Asian in a predominantly white community, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends. I insisted that my parents speak in English in public settings. I even returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. After engaging with various art communities I began experimenting with work which revolved my Indian heritage. I learnt to celebrate the normality in diversity and the unity in community. I now light every Diya on Diwali and dance at every Bollywood party. I work to uplift communities that lack confidence in embracing their cultures through creating art pieces which promote inclusivity. I spend hours working on artworks which are meant to instill confidence within marginalized communities. I hope to use the opportunities I have been afforded to further my artistic experience. While there will always be a red squiggly line under my name and teachers will continue to hesitate when my name comes up for attendance, I am no longer afraid of being mocked for my heritage. Today, I bask under the sun rather than cowering in the shadows, speak proudly in my mother tongue, and happily eat the spice-filled homecooked meals my mom cooks for lunch. Today I call every new face friend and every new place home. Today I use art as a form of expression to portray both culture and freedom.

I hate the word exotic. There are about one billion Indians in the world, yet I am still classified as ‘exotic.’ To condemn my entire ethnicity to that one word makes me sound like an endangered species. In fact, even whilst living in one of the most highly Indian populated states, words like Hindi and Hindu are often confused and questions such as whether I am a red-dot Indian, or a feather Indian are commonly posed. While some may insist that the word is attributed with positive connotations, to me this word is a reminder that I belong to another country, despite having been born and raised in the U.S. Growing up as a South Asian in a predominantly white neighborhood, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends. I insisted that my parents speak in English in public settings. I even returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. After shifting to a more diverse environment, I grew ashamed of how I derived much of my confidence from the validation of others. Seeing other classmates boast and show pride in their culture encouraged me to do the same. Today I celebrate the normality in diversity and the unity in community. I now light every Diya on Diwali and dance at every Bollywood party. I work to uplift communities that may be left unheard or lack confidence in embracing their cultures. I empower the South Asian youth in my community to proudly speak in their mother tongue and express their culture, in the same way I have. I use the opportunities I have been afforded to both further my academic success and uplift communities around me. I spend hours tutoring children in Indian languages to instill confidence in their heritage and make them understand the importance of preserving history. While there will always be a red squiggly line under my name, people will pose questions regarding my ethnicity, and teachers will continue to hesitate when my name comes up for attendance, I am no longer afraid of being mocked for my heritage. I hope to continue this adventure of exploring my culture and other cultures. Today, I bask under the sun rather than cowering in the shadows, speak proudly in my mother tongue, and happily eat the spice-filled homecooked meals my mom cooks for lunch. Today I call every new face friend and every new place home. Today I recognize that my culture which was once known as exotic is now majestic.

Growing up as an Indian in a predominantly white neighborhood, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends. I insisted that my parents speak in English in public settings. I even returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. After shifting to a more diverse environment, I grew ashamed of how I derived much of my confidence from the validation of others. Seeing other classmates boast and show pride in their culture encouraged me to do the same. I have learned to celebrate the normality in diversity. I made it my goal to explore and share my culture and grow more confidence in my heritage. I started by learning the traditional Indian dance Kathak and have now performed various choreographed pieces in front of large non-Indian crowds. I now light every Diya (tealight) on Diwali and take part in an annual color run to share the festival of Holi with my community. I work to uplift communities that may be left unheard or lack confidence in embracing their cultures. I empower the Indian youth in my community to speak in their mother tongue without hesitation, by teaching them the roots of their history. I now spend hours tutoring children in Indian languages to help them understand the importance of education and preserving history. I hope to continue this adventure of exploring my culture and other cultures. Today, I bask under the sun, speak in my mother tongue, and happily eat the spice-filled homecooked meals my mom cooks for lunch.

The elderly community is often overlooked and disregarded, we often do not take the time to think about how they must endure the difficulties of this quickly changing world. I have first hand seen how my grandmother struggles to cope with the evolving technological world. This issue has compelled me to aid the seniors in my community and therefore founded and led a student-driven program in my community called Adopt A Senior. This program strives to aid local senior citizens who have difficulty or may need assistance in tasks such as buying groceries, running errands, taking out the trash, raking leaves, online shopping, shoveling, etc. Due to hindrances such as the current global pandemic and health-related matters many seniors often find basic tasks difficult. As a rising high school senior, I have made it my duty to help my local seniors overcome these hardships by pairing them with a volunteer who would help them with such tasks. So far I have delivered over one thousand copies of this project’s brochure to local organizations and have also been able to aid over twenty local senior citizens from my town. As this project aids more seniors locally I hope to make a difference in my town’s elderly community so that they feel more comfortable with the quick-paced innovations our world faces. Not only do I hope to make a difference in their ability to navigate through the digital world I also plan on assisting them with tasks that they may not be physically capable of performing. Ultimately, I hope to increase the scope of my project so that one day even senior citizens across the world have access to such assistance.

I give thanks to my parents who left their home country so that I could have the opportunity to attend top universities. I give thanks to the technology which allows me to wish my grandma good night from across the world. I give thanks to my grandpa who taught me to cook spice filled Indian dishes. While I may be settling for crumbs when love should be a buffet, I give thanks to those who taught me to give from what I've been given and feed from what I've been fed. I am lucky to have issues like my jeans not fitting quite right, like my hair being cut too short, and like missing the school bus. This morning I woke up...I can breathe...I have clear thoughts...there is food to eat...I have clean water...I have a mother...a car...a home...I am loved...and most of all I have gratitude for every thing and every place I am in.

Growing up as an Indian in a predominantly white neighborhood, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends. I insisted that my parents speak in English in public settings. I even returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. After shifting to a more diverse environment, I grew ashamed of how I derived much of my confidence from the validation of others. Seeing other classmates boast and show pride in their culture encouraged me to do the same. I have learned to celebrate the normality in diversity. I made it my goal to explore and share my culture and grow more confidence in my heritage. I started by learning the traditional Indian dance Kathak and have now performed various choreographed pieces in front of large non-Indian crowds. I now light every Diya (tealight) on Diwali and take part in an annual color run to share the festival of Holi with my community. I work to uplift communities that may be left unheard or lack confidence in embracing their cultures. I empower the Indian youth in my community to speak in their mother tongue without hesitation, by teaching them the roots of their history. I now spend hours tutoring children in Indian languages to help them understand the importance of education and preserving history. I hope to continue this adventure of exploring my culture and other cultures. Today, I bask under the sun, speak in my mother tongue, and happily eat the spice-filled homecooked meals my mom cooks for lunch.

I hate the word exotic. There are about one billion Indians in the world, yet I am still classified as ‘exotic.’ To condemn my entire ethnicity to that one word makes me sound like an endangered species. In fact, even whilst living in one of the most highly Indian populated states, words like Hindi and Hindu are often confused and questions such as whether I am a red-dot Indian, or a feather Indian are commonly posed. While some may insist that the word is attributed with positive connotations, to me this word is a reminder that I belong to another country, despite having been born and raised in the U.S. Growing up as a first-generation Indian in a predominantly white neighborhood, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends. I insisted that my parents speak in English in public settings. I even returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. After shifting to a more diverse environment, I grew ashamed of how I derived much of my confidence from the validation of others. Seeing other classmates boast and show pride in their culture encouraged me to do the same. While being classified as ‘exotic’ did make me re-think my identity as a first-generation Indian, I have learned to celebrate the normality in diversity. I made it my goal to explore and share my culture so that it was no longer foreign to others. I started by learning the traditional Indian dance Kathak and have now performed various choreographed pieces in front of large non-Indian crowds. I now light every Diya (tealight) on Diwali and take part in an annual color run to share the festival of Holi with my community. I work to uplift communities that may be left unheard or lack confidence in embracing their cultures. I empower the Indian youth in my community to speak in their mother tongue without hesitation, by teaching them the roots of their history. I spend hours tutoring children in Indian languages to help them understand the importance of education and preserving history. While there will always be a red squiggly line under my name, people will pose questions regarding my ethnicity, and teachers will continue to hesitate when my name comes up for attendance, I am no longer afraid of being mocked for my heritage. I hope to continue this adventure of exploring my culture and other cultures. Today, I bask under the sun, speak in my mother tongue, and happily eat the spice-filled homecooked meals my mom cooks for lunch. The culture which was once known as exotic is now majestic.

From a second-hand plastic toy camera to my current DSLR camera, I have always had a deep love for photography. The satisfaction of achieving the perfect shot will never cease to amaze me. My love for this art goes beyond capturing sunsets and flowers…instead it has helped me use creativity as a source for relaxation and documentation. While photographs from my eight-year-old self-depict my eraser collection, current photographs are of my presentations in which I advocate for a lower price in feminine hygiene products. Now looking back at the album which is filled with my photography , as I flip through my it's memory-enriched pages, my photographs represent various aspects of me and my life. The rich fragrance of the spice-packed Indian dishes leaks off one page, as it depicts the aesthetic presentation of foods my mom taught me. Another picture depicts the Indian festival of Diwali, a celebration of lights, in which my family attempts to re-create the festival in the U.S. Flipping over to the next page I see a picture of my friends and me sitting in the kids’ section of Barnes & Nobles, where we pick out our favorite Dr. Seuss books. I can smell the whiff of a freshly opened book through the page and am reminded of my growing love for reading, beginning with one Cat in the Hat book. While my family was annoyed at me for shoving a camera in their faces from a very young age, I am now grateful that my love for photography went beyond taking pictures of trees and instead has helped document my growth and has been a source for relaxation.

Growing up as a first-generation Indian in a predominantly white neighborhood, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends. I insisted that my parents speak in English rather than our mother tongue. I even returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. However, it was after shifting to a more diverse environment, that I grew to appreciate my heritage. I learnt to celebrate the normality in diversity and strove to explore and share my culture so that it was no longer foreign. I now work to uplift communities that may be left unheard or lack confidence in embracing their cultures. I have participated in many events in which I share my story and empower the Indian youth in my community to share their heritage with their friends. I encourage those in my community to speak in their mother tongue without hesitation, by teaching them the roots of their history and spend hours tutoring children in Indian languages to help them understand the importance of education and preserving their South Asian heritage. I hope to continue this adventure of exploring my culture and other cultures, and strive to empower those like me who feared sharing their heritage.

I have always grown up to believe that the value of attaining strong and determined leadership skills greatly aids the community for the better. When I talked to my eighty-year-old grandmother each night, I was always reminded of the daily struggles she faced because she had no one to help her. As she lived across the world from me, I would always only be able to do the bare minimum which was to encourage her and teach her the basics of the digital world. My grandma often struggled with daily tasks such as taking out the trash or running errands due to simply aging. This issue made me realize that my grandmother was not the only senior who faced similar problems. After conducting a survey in my local town I was made aware that much of the elderly community felt the same way as my grandma did. Therefore, I began my journey to assist my community’s senior citizens. Through participating in public speaking clubs such as Model United Nations and Debate, which have allowed me to voice my opinion and work as a team, I developed the skill of leadership. I was able to apply this skill when I founded the organization, Adopt A Senior, in which I led a student and adult volunteer team. I led my team to spread this project across our community and reached out to numerous local libraries and churches where we distributed brochures and information regarding the organization. After working hard as a team I successfully paired volunteers with senior citizens and as a result, we were able to assist over twenty senior citizens just in our neighborhood. In the future, I hope to use my leadership skills in my higher education and career. With dreams of becoming an architectural engineer, I understand that teamwork and leadership are strongly needed. Not only will pursuing this career allow me to construct beautiful buildings but this career has also been identified to have one of the highest potentials to combat climate change. Over the past few years, I have grown to admire the work of other architectural engineers who use their skill of leadership to tackle global issues. Through participating in my school’s Model United Nations club I experienced the team-oriented environment of finding a solution on how to construct shelters with sustainable materials in war-torn countries. I hope to use my skills in order to create more sustainable building structures and create firm bonds between other engineers, construction workers, and architects I may work with in the future. Ultimately, I hope that as a future leader I will not only help others around me but also be able to use leading skills to tackle large-scale issues.

Growing up as a first-generation Indian in a predominantly white neighborhood, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends and returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. However, it was after shifting to a more diverse environment, that I grew to appreciate my heritage. I learnt to celebrate the normality in diversity and strove to explore and share my culture so that it was no longer foreign. I now work to uplift communities that may be left unheard or lack confidence in embracing their cultures. I empower the Indian youth in my community to speak in their mother tongue without hesitation, by teaching them the roots of their history and spend hours tutoring children in Indian languages to help them understand the importance of education and preserving history. During high school I set up a small tutoring business which would uplift and encourage my South Asian community to feel more comfortable in their skin. I hope to continue this adventure of exploring my culture and other cultures, and strive to encourage those like me who feared sharing their heritage.

I hate the word exotic. There are about one billion Indians in the world, yet I am still classified as ‘exotic.’ To condemn my entire ethnicity to that one word makes me sound like an endangered species. In fact, even whilst living in one of the most highly Indian populated states, words like Hindi and Hindu are often confused and questions such as whether I am a red-dot Indian, or a feather Indian are commonly posed. While some may insist that the word is attributed with positive connotations, to me this word is a reminder that I belong to another country, despite having been born and raised in the U.S. Growing up as a first-generation Indian in a predominantly white neighborhood, I strove to fit in from a young age. I avoided the sun to keep my skin as light as my friends and returned home with untouched lunches, too afraid of being ridiculed for their different smells. Despite my efforts to fit in and be categorized as a true American, I remained an outlier. However, it was after shifting to a more diverse environment, that I grew to appreciate my heritage. I learnt to celebrate the normality in diversity and strove to explore and share my culture so that it was no longer foreign. I now work to uplift communities that may be left unheard or lack confidence in embracing their cultures. I empower the Indian youth in my community to speak in their mother tongue without hesitation, by teaching them the roots of their history and spend hours tutoring children in Indian languages to help them understand the importance of education and preserving history. I hope to continue this adventure of exploring my culture and other cultures. The culture which was once known as exotic is now majestic.

Gilded in gold, the paisley-covered photo album my parents gifted me when I was just eight years old holds the memories of my entire life. While other albums in my house are also filled with pictures of my family and me, it is this picture filled album that shows the world through my eyes. From a second-hand plastic toy camera to my current DSLR camera, I have always had a deep love for photography. The satisfaction of achieving the perfect shot will never cease to amaze me. My love for this art goes beyond capturing sunsets and flowers…instead it has helped me document different stages of my life. As photographs from my eight-year-old self-depict my eraser collection, current photographs are of my presentations in which I advocate for a lower price in feminine hygiene products. As I flip through my album’s memory-enriched pages, my photographs represent various aspects of me and my life. The rich fragrance of the spice-packed Indian dishes leaks off one page, as it depicts the aesthetic presentation of foods my mom taught me. Another picture depicts the Indian festival of Diwali, a celebration of lights, in which my family attempts to re-create the festival in the U.S. While my family was annoyed at me for shoving a camera in their faces from a very young age, I am now grateful that my love for photography went beyond taking pictures of trees and instead has helped document my growth and family experiences.

Gilded in gold, the paisley-covered photo album my parents gifted me when I was just eight years old holds the memories of my entire life. While other albums in my house are also filled with pictures of my family and me, it is this picture filled album that shows the world through my eyes. From a second-hand plastic toy camera to my current DSLR camera, I have always had a deep love for photography. The satisfaction of achieving the perfect shot will never cease to amaze me. My love for this art goes beyond capturing sunsets and flowers…instead it has helped me document different stages of my life. As photographs from my eight-year-old self-depict my eraser collection, current photographs are of my presentations in which I advocate for a lower price in feminine hygiene products. As I flip through my album’s memory-enriched pages, my photographs represent various aspects of me and my life. The rich fragrance of the spice-packed Indian dishes leaks off one page, as it depicts the aesthetic presentation of foods my mom taught me. Another picture depicts the Indian festival of Diwali, a celebration of lights, in which my family attempts to re-create the festival in the U.S. While my family was annoyed at me for shoving a camera in their faces from a very young age, I am now grateful that my love for photography went beyond taking pictures of trees and instead has helped document my growth and family experiences.

Gilded in gold, the paisley-covered photo album my parents gifted me when I was just eight years old holds the memories and joy of my entire life. While other albums in my house are also filled with pictures of my family and me, it is this picture filled album that shows the world through my eyes. From a second-hand plastic toy camera to my current DSLR camera, I have always had a deep love and joy for photography. The satisfaction of achieving the perfect shot will never cease to amaze me. My love for this art goes beyond capturing sunsets and flowers…instead it has helped me document different stages of my life. As I flip through my album’s memory-enriched pages, my photographs represent various aspects of the joys in my life. The rich fragrance of the spice-packed Indian dishes leaks off one page, as it depicts the aesthetic presentation of foods my mom taught me. Another picture depicts the Indian festival of Diwali, a celebration of lights, in which my family attempts to re-create the festival in the U.S. Several leaflets of my album are filled with pictures of my Indian heritage, but many others depict the little joys in my life. One such image is of my grandma learning how to send a text, now allowing me to wish my grandparents, who live across the world, goodnight each day. Flipping over to the next page I see a picture which reminds of my love for reading. While my family was often annoyed at me for shoving a camera in their faces from a very young age, I am now grateful that my love for photography went beyond taking pictures of trees and instead has helped document the many joys in my life.

I have always grown up to believe that the value of attaining strong and determined leadership skills greatly aids the community for the better. When I talked to my eighty-year-old grandmother each night, I was always reminded of the daily struggles she faced because she had no one to help her. As she lived across the world from me, I would always only be able to do the bare minimum which was to encourage her and teach her the basics of the digital world. My grandma often struggled with daily tasks such as taking out the trash or running errands due to simply aging. This issue made me realize that my grandmother was not the only senior who faced similar problems. After conducting a survey in my local town I was made aware that much of the elderly community felt the same way as my grandma did. Therefore, I began my journey to assist my community’s senior citizens. Through participating in public speaking clubs such as Model United Nations and Debate, which have allowed me to voice my opinion and work as a team, I developed the skill of leadership. I was able to apply this skill when I founded the organization, Adopt A Senior, in which I led a student and adult volunteer team. I led my team to spread this project across our community and reached out to numerous local libraries and churches where we distributed brochures and information regarding the organization. After working hard as a team I successfully paired volunteers with senior citizens and as a result, we were able to assist over twenty senior citizens just in our neighborhood. In the future, I hope to use my leadership skills in my higher education and career. With dreams of becoming an architectural engineer, I understand that teamwork and leadership are strongly needed. Not only will pursuing this career allow me to construct beautiful buildings but this career has also been identified to have one of the highest potentials to combat climate change. Over the past few years, I have grown to admire the work of other architectural engineers who use their skill of leadership to tackle global issues. Through participating in my school’s Model United Nations club I experienced the team-oriented environment of finding a solution on how to construct shelters with sustainable materials in war-torn countries. I hope to use my skills in order to create more sustainable building structures and create firm bonds between other engineers, construction workers, and architects I may work with in the future. Ultimately, I hope that as a future leader I will not only help others around me but also be able to use leading skills to tackle large-scale issues.

Eyes glued to the towering skyscrapers of New York City, my seven-year-old self had decided right then and there that I wanted to construct and design one of those glassy buildings. As a rising senior, my dreams have been forever fixated on one primary goal...becoming an architectural engineer. I have always wanted to make an impact on society, and pursuing a career in architectural engineering would allow me to do so, as the profession has been identified to have one of the highest potentials to combat climate change. The unique shapes and designs of buildings have always intrigued me and my fascination for building systems has always resonated in me. Over the past few years, my love for both design and innovation has increased drastically, as I participated in various stem clubs and worked on quick thinking modules. Through taking various vigorous art classes I have also grown to adore designing and as a result architectural engineer would be the dream... with both design and innovation. Not only will pursuing this career allow me to construct beautiful buildings I will also be able to combat climate change. I have grown to admire the work of architectural engineers who use their skills to tackle global issues. Through participating in my school’s Model United Nations club I experienced the quick-thinking environment of finding a solution on how to construct shelters with sustainable materials in war-torn countries. Over the past few years I have come to realize that architectural engineering is not solely about producing glamorous skyscrapers, but instead can be used to create buildings that may help tackle societal issues. Through applying science and technology, I hope to pursue architectural engineering to improve the quality of a person’s life. Our comfortable house layouts and placement of our doors would not have been possible without architectural engineers. The career brings nuanced ideas and allows for people to live more sustainably and in better conditions. As I head and lead several clubs in my school, I have grown to develop the skills of teamwork and leadership. I will be able to apply this in my higher educations as careers such as architectural engineering often require building a good relationship between the construction workers, architects, and other engineers. Ultimately, pursuing higher education in the field of architectural engineering will allow me to make an impact on society as the vocation will allow me to design structural systems which will provide sustainability and improve the lives of others.

The elderly community is often overlooked and disregarded, we often do not take the time to think about how they must endure the difficulties of this quickly changing world. Today, smartphones have become the key to communication. After teaching my grandma the basics of using a smartphone, today, after four years of mastering the art of the digital world, does she know how to contact me successfully through messages and facetime. I am finally able to wish her a good night from across the world. However, as technology rapidly enhances she continues to face difficulty in performing daily tasks such as online shopping or ordering an Uber. As the world was swept into a pandemic she was left stuck at home with no one to talk to or help her. While also being hindered with health issues and simply aging, my grandma along with other senior citizens need someone to assist them. Although I cannot be of much help from across the screen, this issue has compelled me to aid the seniors in my community. As I acknowledge the hardships and loneliness many senior citizens may encounter, I have founded and led a student-driven program in my community called Adopt A Senior. This program strives to aid local senior citizens who have difficulty or may need assistance in tasks such as buying groceries, running errands, taking out the trash, raking leaves, online shopping, shoveling, etc. Due to hindrances such as the current global pandemic and health-related matters many seniors often find basic tasks difficult. As a rising high school senior, I have made it my duty to help my local seniors overcome these hardships by pairing them with a volunteer who would help them with such tasks. So far I have delivered over one thousand copies of this project’s brochure to local organizations and have also been able to aid over twenty local senior citizens from my town. Through this organization, I have also incorporated another local program called Five Minute Friday in which I recognize that some senior citizens may not have close family or friends to interact with. This program acknowledges the negative toll loneliness can take on one’s life, therefore it pairs a senior citizen with a student volunteer and gives them someone to share their day with. As this project aids more seniors locally I hope to make a difference in my town’s elderly community so that they feel more comfortable with the quick-paced innovations our world faces. Not only do I hope to make a difference in their ability to navigate through the digital world I also plan on assisting them with tasks that they may not be physically capable of performing. I believe I would be a worthy candidate for this scholarship as I would put the money towards furthering my career in community-related works and have demonstrated my leadership skills through founding this organization. I would be honored to be selected and am a dedicated student towards promoting societal change. Ultimately, I hope to increase the scope of my project so that one day even senior citizens across the world have access to such assistance.

Many people residing in my community think of food as a luxury rather than as a necessity. This issue made me aware of the economic hierarchy present in our society and compelled me to create the program, Feed A Family which would aid families in need. I led a team of student volunteers from my local high school and middle school and we successfully collected over 2,000 items and assisted over twenty families. As this program continues, I hope to spread awareness about how a lot of our community members may essentials such as food.

Socrates once remarked, “The secret of happiness, you see is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” This quote truly resonates with me as I think about my grandma who continuously worked her nimble fingers on the sewing machine trying to make three hundred cloth flowers, in her small village in India. Given the run-down conditions she lived in, she never gave up and always persevered, attempting to support her family in any shape or form. Day after day she sold her crisply sown cloth flowers and was finally able to garner a stable income. After twenty years of hard work, she immigrated to the U.S. where her only goal was to keep her family prosperous. Her life in India where she would be left hungry several nights is what allowed her to feel the full potential of happiness. Seeking a better life, my grandma was confident that we would no longer experience any downfall. Two decades later, here I am… an American Indian teenager living in suburban New Jersey, far from my grandma’s small rundown village. However, despite my grandma believing that all would be well with our lives, in the most ‘prosperous’ nation, happiness did not come easy in my life either. Not only have I endured through sleepless nights, pondering on why certain people left racist comments in my locker I have also lived under the fear that my predominantly white school would never understand the true potential of my culture. After continuously having my heritage disregarded and made a mockery of, I locked myself in a bubble in which even I questioned and criticized it. I was under the impression that the only way I would ever feel happiness would be through a sense of belonging and by proving my cultural worth to those who ridiculed me. However, after listening to my grandma’s story I was given a different perspective. While my grandma’s life may have seemed sorrowful, she talked about how beautiful her life was and how she was blessed with three amazing children. After reflecting upon my years as a teenager, I noticed how privileged and blessed I am also. I realized that I did not need to prove my worth to gain belonging and a sense of contentment. Now I look back at my life and find joy in my mother’s spice-packed food. I am reminded of the traditional Indian dance I was taught and how I have made some amazing friends through it. I am reminded of the beautiful light-filled festivals I celebrate with my family each year. After reflecting upon my life, I come to realize that I am surrounded by loving family and friends and beautiful traditions. After realizing that true happiness is found in the little things, I am now inspired to pursue my goals of helping others find happiness in their cultural identity and not feel forced to prove themselves to others.