Global Passport Anonymous

There I sat, an American-born Indian boarding a flight to Guatemala with Japanese anime loaded on my phone and a Wheelock’s Latin textbook in hand. At only 15, I was somewhat culturally aware, but I felt culturally confused. My skin said I was Indian, my heart belonged to the children in Guatemala, my mind spoke in Japanese, my intellectual drive was fueled by the Roman literature, and my roots were in America.

“Cogito”, or thought. My interest in world cultures drove my passion in everything I did. I studied Latin in order to understand the minds that set the foundation for the western world we know today; tales of Remus and Romulus governing Rome drew me to student leadership, where I sought to improve representative government. I spend hours dissecting each new culture, and grow as a person with every new ideology I encounter.

“Sonkei”, or respect. Having hosted over 25 Japanese exchange students, I drawn to the principles of hospitality. I applied these principles not only to other people, but also to my disciplined approach to academics. As a member of a biology lab at UCLA, I worked alongside PhD students, assisting in experiment design, running data analysis, and genotyping test subjects. Although it was intimidating...