Year In Review – 2021

This past year has easily been one of the most challenging times I have ever experienced- a sentiment I know is common around the world. After being sent out of our sophomore year dorms only 14 months ago, I suddenly find myself a rising senior. Everyone says college goes by quickly, but the pandemic has accelerated this process more than I could have envisioned.

Over the course of this year, I have been working at a civil rights law firm. I have loved this experience, and learned so much about what I want to do in the future. I am extremely passionate about advocating against civil rights violations and understand how important this work is when trying to achieve racial equity. I have steadily worked through majority of my double major course work over the past year, so I am left with a bunch of GEs that I am excited to explore senior year!

I am leaving my position with the law firm in two weeks time and am currently figuring out my next moves for the summer. I am interviewing with a handful of organizations, all related to the intersection of race, policy and law. I have also recently been accepted into the Washington Academic Internship Program (WAIP) and am so excited to move to DC for fall semester and work there!

Though this year has been extremely difficult, I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned to be kinder to myself and my body, because it has taken me through so much (including recovering from COVID). I have learned how much I cherish the people in my life but also find comfort and peace in being alone. I was able to spend months of quality time with my family last year, which was a pleasant change. My brother and I never imagined we would be back home in our 20s with our parents, but we loved the time that we could all spend together. As the end of COVID-19 is in sight here, I find myself worrying on end about my family in India as COVID runs rampant. The duality of the life I lead here is very apparent, which mixes up the feelings of hope and immense privilege with sorrow and anxiety.

I am looking forward to the summer here in Columbus and my move to D.C. in the fall. In one year, I’ll be graduating! Time truly flies.

About Me

Hi!

My name is Trisha Roy and I am rising fourth-year Eminence Fellow. I’m from Shaker Heights, Ohio and went to the public school system there. I am constantly thinking about race relations and my privileged position, as a non-Black person of color, in our deeply skewed societal institutions.

I am double majoring in Psychology and Public Management, Leadership and Policy. I love the combination of these fields, because I can apply the knowledge of cognitive science to public affairs and policy. I also am particularly interested in the way that psychology can drive racism and prejudiced beliefs. Psychology is a way for me to learn why people do what they do, which goes hand in hand to trying to achieve a more equitable society.

I have plans to take a gap year to work and then go to law school. After working at a civil rights law firm over the past year, I have realized that I want to become a civil rights attorney. I am very passionate about the work and the impact that adequate legal representation can have on marginalized communities and communities of color, like my own.

In my free time, I love hanging out with my friends, dancing, and being outside. The past year has made me cherish the outdoors, so I plan on spending as much time outside of my four bedroom walls as possible. I also adore my family and love spending time with them in Cleveland.

G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness:

I am very interested in studying abroad during my time at OSU. I would love to travel somewhere that I can utilize my native languages, so possibly somewhere in India. I think that studying there, in contrast to just visiting my family there, will give me a new appreciation of the culture and people. I also think there would be great value in my studying abroad somewhere else, perhaps in a country in South America. It would give me an opportunity to immerse myself in a very unfamiliar culture, which I would benefit from.

Original Inquiry:

Currently, I am working in a collaborative social reasoning lab. I transcribe videos of younger students who are talking through different social issues in a book they read. These transcriptions are then coded in different ways, and analyzed. I plan on continuing this work for now, but possibly changing my course to focus on researching the psychology behind stereotypes and social norms, and the way people form their preconceived notions and act on them. I would like to apply to the stereotype lab here on campus, and see where that work takes me.

Academic Enrichment:

As of right now I am pursuing a major in psychology and a minor in neuroscience. However, I am also extremely interested in public policy and would like to explore my options in that realm. I would love to take atleast a few policy classes during my time here. I am torn between going to med school or law school, and am not yet sure how that will pan out. I am equally as passionate about STEM and medicine as I am policy and upholding of the law. I plan to take a wide array of classes to keep my options open.

Leadership Development:

One of my biggest extracurricular activities right now is my dance team, Buckeye Fusion. It is an all girls, Bollywood fusion team. I would love to take on a leadership position in this, as it means so much to me. I am also in Students for Educational Equity (though taking some time off now due to other engagements), and would like to play a larger role in that as well.

Service Engagement:

Though I am not directly involved in any organizations right now that are service oriented, I am in the midst of coming up with a service project with my Eminence Fellow Cohort. Our goal is to create a sustainable non-profit model organization that serves the community and the people around us. Right now, we are narrowing down the topics that we would like to address through our service project, and come summer 2019, we will more or less have a project in mind and presented to the Honors and Scholars Board.