Prompt: Rutgers University is a vibrant community of people with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. How would you benefit from and contribute to such an environment? Consider variables such as your talents, travels, leadership activities, volunteer services, and cultural experiences. Only personal essays submitted via our website will be considered. You may enter a maximum of 3800 characters including spaces.
I was an ordinary American first grader, who had pizza parties and went trick-or-treating on Halloween, except that I was Indian, and my parents had just decided to move to India. I was intensely disappointed; I had visited India during the summer and while the vacations had been fun the thought of living there forever was not particularly appealing. However, there was no arguing with my parents and soon, I saw the bright lights of Bangalore, India, from the window of the airplane.
Bangalore, like the rest of India was chaos at its best. A first glance would yield no apparent scheme of organisation, something I despised at first. I hoped to move back to the USA immediately. A year passed by, and then two, and I realised that at this point, my parents loved India too much to move back. We were going to be in India forever.
India is regarded as a land of rich heritage and diversity. This is absolutely true. Every part of India is different and beautiful, and I learned this on our trips to all four corners of India. I saw the intricately hand carved temples of the South, the pink palaces of the north, and the glacier mouth of the Ganges. But I was not a tourist, I was living in India, and as a result, I learned and saw much more than the culture.
In India I developed a strong sense of freedom and independence, as the atmosphere required me to be self-sufficient. I could play wherever I wanted: in the streets, on sand piles or during the heavy monsoon rains. As I grew older, I could take auto rikshaws and the local bus to anywhere within Bangalore. I began to develop my knowledge of the local language both at school and by exposure, since I had to be able to communicate with people by myself instead of depending on my parents. In the haphazardness of India, I learned tolerance. So what if the bus was late? So what if the constant construction resulted in ever-present dirt piles? So what if there were no sidewalks and I could be hit by a speeding car any second? I learned to live with imperfection, to accept that nothing would always run according to plan. India worked without a plan, and so could I.
When I was thirteen, my parents decided to move back to the USA. USA was planned cities, organized traffic and clear instructions. It was here that I learned organization, leadership, and the importance of helping people. I learned to take advantage of opportunity. I participated in the Toastmasters Youth Leadership Program, which removed my fear of public speaking and enabled me to be a good leader. When I emceed at our graduation ceremony, I realised the importance of a plan, and the need for an event to progress smoothly. I began volunteering at HindiUSA, an organization dedicated to teaching Hindi to children in America. I kept in touch with my Hindi skills as well as gained experience in teaching.
I became involved in martial arts classes, and fell in love with the performance, precision, and balance. Balance was integral to my life, as I equalized my Indian and American personalities. I could not allow them to go into conflict.
I am still that American girl who loves pizza parties and trick-or-treating on Halloween, but with a twist. I am also Indian, not just in race, but in skills. I have the tolerance, independence, and spontaneity of India, and the balance, organisation, and leadership of the USA. I look forward to bringing these skills to Rutgers to add to its vibrant crowd. At Rutgers, I can participate in activities aligned with my interests, such as the RU Martial Arts Club and RU Toastmasters. I can bring my talents to these organizations and develop them further. Rutgers provides a large base of opportunity to explore, a base from which I have much to gain, and much to give.
I was an ordinary American first grader, who had pizza parties and went trick-or-treating on Halloween, except that I was Indian, and my parents had just decided to move to India. I was intensely disappointed; I had visited India during the summer and while the vacations had been fun the thought of living there forever was not particularly appealing. However, there was no arguing with my parents and soon, I saw the bright lights of Bangalore, India, from the window of the airplane.
Bangalore, like the rest of India was chaos at its best. A first glance would yield no apparent scheme of organisation, something I despised at first. I hoped to move back to the USA immediately. A year passed by, and then two, and I realised that at this point, my parents loved India too much to move back. We were going to be in India forever.
India is regarded as a land of rich heritage and diversity. This is absolutely true. Every part of India is different and beautiful, and I learned this on our trips to all four corners of India. I saw the intricately hand carved temples of the South, the pink palaces of the north, and the glacier mouth of the Ganges. But I was not a tourist, I was living in India, and as a result, I learned and saw much more than the culture.
In India I developed a strong sense of freedom and independence, as the atmosphere required me to be self-sufficient. I could play wherever I wanted: in the streets, on sand piles or during the heavy monsoon rains. As I grew older, I could take auto rikshaws and the local bus to anywhere within Bangalore. I began to develop my knowledge of the local language both at school and by exposure, since I had to be able to communicate with people by myself instead of depending on my parents. In the haphazardness of India, I learned tolerance. So what if the bus was late? So what if the constant construction resulted in ever-present dirt piles? So what if there were no sidewalks and I could be hit by a speeding car any second? I learned to live with imperfection, to accept that nothing would always run according to plan. India worked without a plan, and so could I.
When I was thirteen, my parents decided to move back to the USA. USA was planned cities, organized traffic and clear instructions. It was here that I learned organization, leadership, and the importance of helping people. I learned to take advantage of opportunity. I participated in the Toastmasters Youth Leadership Program, which removed my fear of public speaking and enabled me to be a good leader. When I emceed at our graduation ceremony, I realised the importance of a plan, and the need for an event to progress smoothly. I began volunteering at HindiUSA, an organization dedicated to teaching Hindi to children in America. I kept in touch with my Hindi skills as well as gained experience in teaching.
I became involved in martial arts classes, and fell in love with the performance, precision, and balance. Balance was integral to my life, as I equalized my Indian and American personalities. I could not allow them to go into conflict.
I am still that American girl who loves pizza parties and trick-or-treating on Halloween, but with a twist. I am also Indian, not just in race, but in skills. I have the tolerance, independence, and spontaneity of India, and the balance, organisation, and leadership of the USA. I look forward to bringing these skills to Rutgers to add to its vibrant crowd. At Rutgers, I can participate in activities aligned with my interests, such as the RU Martial Arts Club and RU Toastmasters. I can bring my talents to these organizations and develop them further. Rutgers provides a large base of opportunity to explore, a base from which I have much to gain, and much to give.
