"Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham?" That's the most iconic line from my favorite film, "Bend it Like Beckham." While this film is relatively older and quite cheesy, I believe it has left a mark on pop culture and lent a voice to the South Asian community while exploring themes such as coming-of-age, misogyny in Indian culture, and identity crisis. If you're not familiar with this cinematic masterpiece, "Bend it Like Beckham" tells the story of 18 year old Jess, the daughter of Indian immigrants in the UK. While Jess loves to play soccer, her parents want her to be more like her older sister, who's the typical "girly girl" and is engaged to her Indian boyfriend. Jess actually makes a travel soccer team and has to hide this from her parents. The movie, in it's entirety, tells the story of how Jess lives two lives- one on the soccer field in which she is the star player on her team and another at home where she struggles to be the perfect daughter that her parents want her to be. On top of that, she deals with cruel aunties, a budding relationship with her soccer coach, and pressure from her mother to be more like her older sister. While slightly dramatized (as any good movie is), growing up and having this movie to watch was absolutely revolutionary- I didn't realize it at the time, but it was such a good representation of Punjabi culture in a "Western" film. While my parents aren't as strict as Jess's, me and every other immigrant daughter out there can relate to the identity crisis she faces between being a "normal" teenager and the perfect Indian daughter. This is why it is my all-time favorite film.

I believe higher education is not necessary for a successful future. Of course, that depends on different factors like the career you want to pursue, your interests, and your values. In my case, I need higher education to be able to pursue my dream career, which is perfectly suited for my interests and values. I would like to become a genetic counselor; to be able to do this I need an Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in Genetic Counseling. Pursuing higher education will allow me to get the educational background in biology and genetics, which will prepare me for the Master's program that is required to become a genetic counselor. At my high school, I'm currently involved in Student Council as Vice President. This experience has helped me develop leadership skills that will be valuable to me as an undergraduate student. I'm also a member of the Senior Class Council. We've been planning and preparing for different events at the school, including the Senior Picnic, Prom, and Graduation. I'm also a part of Future Medical Professionals, or FMP. In FMP, we get to hear lectures from different guest speakers, who are all a part of the healthcare community. And, lastly, I'm a member of DECA, which is a business club. In this club, we participate in role-play scenarios that relate to different aspects of business- I compete in the sports marketing category. As a member of DECA, I'm a two-time state qualifier and one-time internationals qualifier. Currently, I'm most passionate about science and social justice. As a member of the South Asian community, it's very hard to educate people about the science pertaining to COVID-19 and about social justice issues such as BLM. One aspect of systemic racism that I notice overlaps in the Black and South Asian communities is colorism. I'm really passionate about making sure at all people feel like they have a voice, whether that is through posting on social media or attending rallies and protests or even reading and watching resources that will better educate me about different issues. Now, with COVID-19, this is an issue I'm passionate about educating others towards because I want to go into the science/ healthcare field. It's really important for marginalized and underprivileged communities to have the proper resources to be able to protect themselves against COVID-19 through preventative measures such as wearing a mask, social distancing, and getting the vaccine.