I came in as a history and philosophy major my freshman year at USC and for the last four years I’ve been studying genocide and political violence. For my history and philosophy research I’ve been travelling many times now to India and England to study cases of organized violence and particularly violence in modern India. So basically, I study how people destroy things and especially, how people destroy each other.
I originally started taking English classes simply because I missed my high school English classes. I missed close reading and dissecting Woolf and Wilde and Collins. But over the years, the major has really grown to be something that is much more central to me. Partially that’s just because my English classes have kept me sane in the midst of all these genocide courses. But more than that, these classes have reminded me that people are also capable of creating things, and that people can create things in incredibly powerful and beautiful ways.
So after graduation I’ll be heading to India for a year on a Fulbright Fellowship to continue studying gendered history and gendered violence. And after that I’ll be going to Oxford University to pursue a PhD in history. The end goal after all this is to become a writer. And that’s because I’ve learned that the most effective means of communication is the written word and that when you communicate an idea through a creative medium—be it a play, a novel, a poem—you have the power to reach and affect a lot of people and in very profound ways.
I’d like to thank my professors, my mentors for getting me this far and for continuing to challenge and inspire me to be more and write more—especially because I come from a family of doctors and veterinarians in which even the few lawyers are considered to be very alternative and incredibly exotic. My parents have been incredibly supportive of my dreams but it hasn’t always been easy for me to find that so I’ve very grateful to have found such a supportive community that’s so passionate about the arts here at USC in the English department. I’m so excited and humbled and honoured by this award—thank you so much.
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