Though I was always a relatively shy child, I grew to enjoy leadership positions.

In high school I was involved in multiple organizations, and I even went as far creating two clubs. Outside of school, I organized events in collaboration with multiple institutions. For example, in August 2019, I organized a cleanup at Lake Ronkonkoma.

Cleanup volunteers from Keep Islip Clean, Suffolk Islamic Center, and
Good Shepherd Catholic Church

Once I got into Stony Brook University, I became heavily involved with the South Asian Student Alliance (SASA). In May 2022, I became the president and worked hard to foster collaboration between our organization and other SBU organizations, while also promoting the integration of south-Asian culture within ones day-to-day life. 

In May 2024, we were awarded with the “Collaborative Program Award” at the Student Life Awards for our SASA’s-giving event. This event was a collaboration between SASA and 16 other organizations, and this was a philanthropy event. Here, we raised $512 for the Maa Foundation, which is an organization that strives to reduce maternal mortality rates within developing regions by offering free education, diagnosis, and medication for mothers and pregnant women. Furthermore, we collected over 100 non-perishable items and canned foods, and all items were divided and sent to Long Island Cares: The Harry Chapin Regional Food Bank and the Stony Brook Medicine Cancer Center Food Pantry.

Student Life Awards with SASA executive board

Later that month, I was invited to be a guest speaker at Centereach High School for their Asian Heritage Month Celebration. I spoke about the importance of representation and my own experience with this. I wanted to highlight how important it is that they are doing this event, since representation is something that I am very passionate about this. Given my own work from high school and college, I was proud to see a new group of students working towards Asian representation within the educational system.

Asian Heritage Month Celebration advisor after my speech

I look forward to doing more volunteer events in the future, both on and off campus!