2 Jan 2023. First day of work for the year. New year and a new student was assigned to me.
I hop on the call enthusiastically to meet AG. On the call, I saw an earnest face but a twinkle in his eyes that said, “I am dreaming big.” A solemnness played across his features, hinting at burdens carried silently.
He is a man of few words, but very sharp and thoughtful ones. Among the few words in the first call was “I want to go to CMU. It is my dream school”. The team and I braced ourselves for the grind.
He was a good golfer and with good academics. Golf came to a halt in a few weeks due to some personal issues. Oh boy, he was so upset. The sadness could be seen in his eyes, nearly in tears for a few weeks before the summer break and his grade 11 exams. I was worried his sadness would affect his grades.
AG, However, rolled up his sleeves and got to work at his study table. He studied super hard for grade 11 IB exams and gave it his all for the SAT to achieve a stellar score.
We talked about economics a lot and explored the idea of pursuing a research paper. He was thrilled. The topic was labor economics. He would talk to me about the project with so much excitement and such an advanced technical vocabulary. He completed the paper with flying colors under a mentor from the University of Cambridge. The mentor was all praises for AG’s quality of work and commitment.
It was an exemplary paper of undergraduate level and we could not have been more proud.
His humility and dedication are remarkable. Every piece of advice given to him was received with an open mind, and then carefully thought upon and asked questions to know more and be more aware. He has been very very curious, proactive, and humble throughout.
Given certain unfortunate personal experiences that explain the maturity he showcases, he is a strong advocate of promoting financial literacy. AG strongly believes each person should be financially literate. As a golfer, he organized a financial literacy program for caddies and helped them with operating bank accounts, savings schemes, principles of budgeting, insurance, and so on. He is volunteering at an NGO to start instilling a sense of the importance of managing finances in high school students.
At school, he can also be seen crusading for anti-bullying and leading a House at school.
4:30 AM, 16 Dec 2023 despite being a deep sleeper, I randomly woke up. Perhaps my body just knew subconsciously that it was time for the EA, and ED results. I checked my phone hastily even before my eyes were fully open. There was nothing. I put it off and tried going back to sleep. I checked again in about 2 hours. I jumped right out of my bed when I read a very humble and simple message received at 4:43 AM “ I got into CMU”.
I couldn’t be happier for him. All the struggles that he went through personally, and all the hard work finally paid off. The acceptance letter- There it was in all its glory. Just what he had dreamed about. And the cherry on the cake- it was his mum’s birthday that day 🙂
By Lead Counselor Medha Kattige
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