Graduation 2015

I first came to UC Berkeley in fall 2011, lost and confused. I arrived as an undeclared student in the College of Letters and Science. Countless majors floated in and out of my head, and I had no clue which one to pursue.

For the first time in my life, I don’t know what is coming next. When I first got to UC Berkeley, I felt lost and alone; on the brink of graduation, I feel the same way. But this time, it’s not scary.

In 2011, I strolled onto the Sproul Hall steps, wide-eyed, eager and all too ready to conquer the world. My mind was set on a career in public policy, and my introduction to UC Berkeley seamlessly guided me toward that goal. I joined the ASUC Student Advocate’s Office and immediately found my passion and community: a group of like-minded policy nerds eager to make a meaningful, if sometimes marginal, difference in the lives of our classmates.

I remember it as if it was only yesterday, as the rainfall that only moments prior had engulfed the Greek Theatre had all but evaporated, when the Big Game bonfire was lit Nov. 20, 2009. It was the first Big Game Bonfire Rally I attended — at that time a junior in high school — and it certainly was not to be my last.

I study history because I am proud to write a thesis, one usually reserved to students in the honors program. I study history because I can learn about the ancient Mauryan Empire from the third century B.C.E. and how much damn better it was than any modern equivalent, or I can study the intricacies of the Renaissance court.