“College is pointless!! Have you seen what AI is doing to the job market?!” screams the Caucasian man from the other end of my screen. Ignorant, I say. Going to college represents far more than earning a degree, creating a career or making money. It is the path to networking, skill-building, independence, knowledge, perspective, and the chance to build a future that generations before me could not always reach. As a South Asian woman, I have grown up hyperaware of the barriers that shape educational and economic opportunity. I have seen how the racial wealth gaps and gender pay gaps play out in real life. For me, college is a step toward breaking cycles that limit what young people of color are told they can achieve. Strong, fearless women in my life have pushed me to fight for my rights, and college is the first foundational step towards independence, which is the pathway to change. College means entering a space where I can study subjects that excite me and build the skills I need to create meaningful change. It means surrounding myself with people who challenge me, support me, and push me to think beyond what I already know. It means gaining the knowledge, perspective and confidence to pursue a career that allows me to uplift others who share my background. I want my education to be a tool for stability and long‑term impact. My ambition to pursue higher education comes from watching how hard my family has worked to create opportunities for me. Their sacrifices taught me that education is one of the most powerful ways to expand what is possible. I want to honor their effort by using college as a place to grow academically and personally. I hope to study fields that combine analytical thinking with community‑centered work, and I want to learn how to design solutions that address inequities faced by underrepresented groups. My goal is to build a career where I can advocate for others, whether through policy, business, or another medium. College also represents a chance to continue building the kind of supportive environments that helped me succeed in high school. Being part of cultural and service‑oriented communities taught me the importance of belonging and representation. I want to bring that same energy into my future campus life. I hope to join and/or lead organizations that support minority students, create mentorship networks, and encourage younger students to pursue their own goals. The sense of connection I found in these spaces at my high school have shaped my confidence, and I want to help create that for others. At the end of the day, going to college means stepping into a future where I can contribute to something larger than myself. I want to graduate not only with knowledge, but with the ability to make a tangible difference. I want to build a career that allows me to support my family, uplift my community, and help close the opportunity gaps that hold so many students back. My education will be the foundation for that work. College is a commitment to growth, purpose, and impact. It is the path toward the life I want to build and the legacy I hope to leave.

Olivia Rodrigo’s music has always felt like a mirror held up to the parts of growing up that are hard to articulate. Her songs capture the confusion, longing, jealousy, and self‑doubt that so so many teenagers feel but rarely admit. When I first listened to her album “SOUR”, one line from “jealousy, jealousy” stayed with me: “I’m so sick of myself.” It was simple, but it put a feeling I had never said out loud into words. That lyric became a starting point for understanding my insecurities, identity, and eventually led to self‑acceptance and love. As a South Asian student in a predominantly white school, I often feel like I am performing two versions of myself. There is the version that tries to blend into the hallways and classrooms, and the version that belonged to my culture, my family, and my community. Balancing these identities sometimes made me feel like I was not enough of either. Olivia’s music, especially her exploration of self‑criticism and comparison, helped me recognize that these feelings were not signs of weakness, but an important part of growing up and learning to understand myself. Listening to her songs during late‑night homework sessions or long drives gave me a sense of companionship. Her honesty made me feel less alone in moments when I questioned my worth or felt overshadowed by others. Songs about jealousy and comparison reminded me that these emotions do not make someone unkind or shallow. They make someone human. That realization helped me approach my own insecurities with more compassion. Her music also influenced how I show up in the communities I care about, especially the Desi Student Union at my high school. DSU became a place where I could finally bring my whole self without feeling the need to shrink or adjust. The vulnerability Olivia expresses in her songs encouraged me to be more open with others in the club. When underclassmen shared their worries about fitting in or balancing cultural expectations, I recognized pieces of my own story in theirs. I learned to listen more deeply and support them in the same way her music supported me. Olivia’s work also taught me the value of turning emotion into action. Instead of letting insecurity isolate me, I used it to build stronger connections. As a DSU leader, I want to create a space where students feel understood, valued, and safe expressing the parts of themselves they usually hide. Her music showed me that honesty can be a bridge, not a barrier. I hope to bring that same spirit into the communities I join in college and beyond. What I admire most about Olivia Rodrigo is not just her talent but her willingness to be real. Her songs taught me that vulnerability is not something to avoid. It is something that can spark connection, empathy, and growth. My journey has been shaped by learning to embrace my identity, navigate insecurity, and find belonging. Her music helped me understand that these challenges are not signs of failure. They are signs that I am becoming someone stronger, more self‑aware, and more willing to show up authentically in the world.