I was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and lived in Somerset for the first six years of my life. An extremely diverse community, the small suburb of Somerset created the foundation for my wide-ranging interests such as debate, acapella choir, and the sciences. When I was in first grade, my family decided to move to Basking Ridge to take advantage of the educational opportunities. I’ve experienced learning with students of all different backgrounds, helping me realize that our society works together in spite of our differences when it matters.

Growing up in an Asian-American household, multiculturalism was never foreign to me. In fact, my parents came to experience this first-hand when they first immigrated to America. This embracing of multiple …show more content…
At first, I thought I would only be interacting with other teenage volunteers, but I was introduced to the supervisor for my shift, a college student studying public health, the security guard, a Guyanese man who lives in Pennsylvania, and the other volunteer, an immigrant from Mexico. Two hour shifts at the front desk became a classroom where I experienced first-hand stories from the others present. From the Jonestown Massacre to stories about the streets of Thailand, I learned about the wonders this world has to offer. It is their diversity that ignites this passion in me to learn more about their experiences. In addition to discovering the wealth of knowledge the staff had to offer, I also learned from my interactions with patients and visitors, even using my knowledge of Chinese to help an elderly couple find their son’s room. Sitting behind a desk in the lobby of a hospital, I expected to stare at the computer screen the entire time; instead, I have unearthed a hidden vein of erudition. At WashU, I seek to continue to celebrate the diversity of the student body through a commitment to bettering the world around