Ratna writes

Many of you may be wondering where I'm headed next, now that this happened: Graduation was a blur, but a very beautiful one that filled me with a lot of gratitude. It was especially special to have my Nani and Nanaji here from India for the special day, and campus was appropriately celebratory and sentimental for the last few weeks we were there. I spent a satisfying and relaxing chunk of time after graduation at home in Virginia, decompressing, going on lots of runs, and gearing up for my next phase! I was lucky to be able to see many people who have been instrumental in Priya's and my success and happiness while at home. I'm now in New York, living in Union Square with my good friend Bianca and commuting to Bryant Park daily, for a summer internship with Living Cities, a non-profit that works on urban economic development here in the United States. I'm a part of the Collective Impact team, who promote solutions that harness the power of both the public ...

I've been nostalgic about this place since before I got here. One of my friends  passed away within a week of graduating from Yale in 2011, and it was enough to send post-gap-year me into this hyperactive appreciative mode from the moment I set foot on Harvard's campus. So the time hasn't flown -- I've watched it pass at a steady speed, for the most part. But these past few weeks have flown by. (Is it currently the week that started with Yardfest? Is senior week coming up after just two more of these short weeks?) Reading week is weird in particular. Suspended between the end of classes ending and the start of finals that don't really matter, we float through the week of The Formals and hear the final clubs play the same songs over and over starting around the time we wake up at noon most days.  I've been sitting here trying to structure the time so I can savor the time, but end up paralyzed and procrastinating. I don't think there's a way to m...

It's my last semester of college and I couldn't be more excited. Here's one last chance to dwell in this web of 18-to-22-year-olds with a lot of ideas and a lot of interests and a lot of stress, all contained in our bubble of Cantabrigian brick with 70 different food options served to us at every meal and the gym and laundry right around the corner. I'm especially psyched because I'm finally  studying the things that I set out to study when I chose this monster of a major (Economics). I'm also taking my last college Latin class (and it happens to be on one of my top two favorite authors), after a 12-year career as a student of the Classics! Below are my courses, taught by a cast of all-star super engaging professors. Environmental Economics  | Provides a survey, from the perspective of economics, of environmental and natural resource policy. Combines lectures on conceptual and methodological topics with examinations of public policy issues. ...

I've made it a point since college started to write at least at the beginning and end of each semester, and after last semester I wasn't being negligent...senior fall was just really hard . Friends, classes, and extracurriculars all lined up in a way that could have made for a great time, but something caught up to me and I found myself stressed, overworked, and overwhelmed most days...I guess it had to happen eventually! Anyway, I've been waiting until the very last minute to write this  post because I don't think my winter break could have been any more rejuvenating, and I've been trying to stretchhh the end of it out as long as possible. But as I return to campus tomorrow for the start of my last semester of college (!!), I just wanted to recount what a perfect vacation this has been, especially the two-week trip to India I got to take at the end and now find myself very jet-lagged from. Basically, I know when my mind needs to take a complete break and do ab...

My dear friends, I wanted to thank you all for making my birthday so special. You have no idea how much it means to me! This semester has been a whirlwind of crazy and confusing so far, so much so that some of you have only seen me in passing this year, zoning out over work in the dining hall. But there is SO much to celebrate about this year, and it meant a lot to celebrate with all of you in one place yesterday. I have a box called my Happy Box that I open up on rainy days sometimes, full of notes and letters I've collected over the years from friends, family, teachers, employers, etc. that in some way remind me who I am, outside of my outside. The book of letters you all put together for me is like a little Happy Book in itself, and I can't express how much I needed your words last night. My biggest fear on birthdays past, and the reason I annually (since birth) cry the day before, is that I feel like I won’t get that “birthday feeling” -- that childhood doted-up...

It's week six of a semester chock-full of singing and running and working and oh yeah, classes, that I had meant to settle into a bit before blogging about it, but who knows when a time that can qualify as  "settled" will come? I'm a senior now, mind full of all these senior worries like job applications and the capital-F Future, and I want to take a moment to update you all on where I currently find myself. The summer was not perfect but still stunning, featuring the best work experience I've ever had, complete with weekly busking in Central Park and an amazingly successful fundraising campaign for Gyaan Ghar (thanks to all of you).  If you're wondering why I didn't post about it more often, it's because I've been experimenting with writing for myself -- and ended the summer with 56 pages narrating my summer experience in New York! The school year kicked off with an a cappella retreat at Mr. Chanania's home followed by auditions to find...

As many of you know, in 2008 I was lucky enough to be able to start a small after-school learning center in Ludhiana, to provide free supplementary education to a group of 20 students I had been tutoring before then and had become very close to. Their passion for learning outside of the classroom, both when I would visit India over my summer breaks and beyond, inspired me to create a space where they could take this creativity every day of the year, where it would be welcomed and nurtured. Since then, Gyaan Ghar has been thriving, supported by two wonderful full-time teachers, bolstered by the New Lajpat Nagar community, and tirelessly overseen by my grandmother, Amrit Kaur. We have 65 students enrolled, a handful of whom are still with us from that first batch that I used to tutor in 2008! All in all, classes in art, music, theater, public speaking, computers, and environmental awareness are running smoothly and students remain enthusiastic and eager to learn. Working with stu...