My freshman year I was a zoology major, thinking about pre-med, but then I decided to switch to psychology and also take child studies classes. I want to be a clinical psychologist and work with adolescents. I've always liked working with kids. When I was in high school, I volunteered at Cincinnati Children's Hospital as a child-life specialist, which meant that when kids were in the ER, I was the one who would take them toys, bring them snacks, and play with them. I'm also part of Big Brothers, Big Sisters. I take my little sister on field trips to the zoo and to the movies and to my house in West Chester.

I'm in ISA, the Indian Student Association, so all first semester I'm practicing 12 hours a week for the Diwali Show. I was in three dances this year, and we did two shows instead of one. Diwali, which means festival of lights, is an important holiday for Hindus. The Diwali show is the biggest multicultural event on campus.

My roommate, Kelly, and I started a Miami chapter of Oxfam International. Oxfam is a non-governmental organization that works to diminish hunger and poverty in the world. Our members are super-dedicated and we've been pretty successful. We''ve done four or five bake sales to raise money, which we donated to various international aid groups for things like a water pump for a rural village and for micro-financing loans to help people in poor countries start their own business.

Our biggest event, though, was an Oxfam Hunger Banquet. We gave each person who came a card identifying them as either a member of the world's lowest income group, the world's middle, or the world's highest. The people in the low-income group had to sit on the floor and were given just rice to eat, the middle group got chairs and rice and beans, and the highest group got a table and chairs and a burrito. The idea was to symbolize that for many people you don’t get to choose what you get in life, it's already been chosen for you.

I'm also member of Invisible Children, which is an organization that helps former child soldiers in Uganda get an education. I sponsor a child so that he can go to school. I learned about Invisible Children when the group came to Miami last year to speak. Their message was so powerful that I just had to get involved. I feel like there's a solution for dealing with all of the poverty and hunger in the world if we just work hard enough.

This semester, I helped plan the Perl Mutter Leadership Conference, which is for first-year students to help them find a leadership role on campus. Planning for it was a lot of fun. We organized everything from the name tags to the posters and ads. We also read the applications, chose the attendees, and brought in the guest speakers. It was a really successful event.

This year has been a time of personal growth for me. If you look at me now compared to me as a freshman, I’m two different people. Freshman year, I did nothing but eat, sleep, and study. Now I’m involved in student groups as well. I feel like now is the time to be involved because it won’t be as easy once I have a full-time job. And I think these kinds of experiences are what make college life special.