The “S” in G.O.A.L.S. stands for Service Engagement. To me, service is any time taken helping another person. I was raised believing that the greatest thing that you can do in life is help another person. Service has always been an important part of my life, from middle school, when I was involved with Girl Scouts, to high school, when I spent a large portion of my time volunteering and working for non-profit organizations. In high school, I was fortunate enough to have the resources to work on a service project to raise funds to send children in my family’s hometown in India to school. I met these incredible children and families that despite having almost nothing, told me that their greatest desire was to attend school or send their children to school to receive an education. Seeing the face of these individuals light up when I said that I would do everything in my power to help is the reason that I believe service to be so incredibly important and rewarding. While this was a global scale project, that ecstatic expression is the same in most community service environments. It is the same expression that kids in the community have on their faces when you make blankets for them or donate old clothes and toys for them to use. I am an incredibly privileged individual and I truly believe that as someone blessed with good fortune, it is my responsibility to help those less fortunate and engage in service.

The “G” in the G.O.A.L.S. acronym stands for Global Awareness. To me, global awareness indicates a greater awareness of the world and differences in people, cultures, opinions, etc. It is not only understanding that others are different, but appreciating and embracing that diversity to enrich the world that I believe makes a globally aware individual. I hope to discover more of these differences in my classes. In particular, I am planning on taking Sociology, Anthropology, International Studies, and Spanish, which I believe will help expand my understanding of other cultures and people. As a student with Indian ancestry, I am a member of the Indian American Association and Indian Student Association on campus, however, I believe that diversity does not only lie in race. I think that in every class, program, and organization, there is some level of diversity, whether it be diversity of gender, religion, ideas, age, ability, wealth, knowledge, or any other characteristic used to describe a person. In just the first few weeks of college, I met people drastically different from me in every way, and it has been an eye-opening journey that I look forward to continuing through classes, clubs, and service in my next few years of college.