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AROUND ON GROUNDS
Like in high school, I wanted to make the most of my time on grounds by getting involved with the UVA A-School, UVA and Charlottesville as a whole. Because I was an out-of-state student, many of the experiences that Virginia had to offer. Along with that, goin
VIRGINIA SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
VSAP is a pre-professional fraternity on campus, meaning that it focuses a lot more on professional development and community service than a traditional fraternity. After getting a bid for VSAP close to the beginning of the semester, I've met some of my closest friends who are also first-years in the architecture program, gotten familiar with some of the upper classmen, and the Architecture School (A-School) as a whole. This first semester, VSAP partnered with Habitat for Humanity for Rakethon, where around 50 of us volunteered to rake leaves in people's yards, which was a lot more fun than I initially thought. On top of our weekly chapter, we have a lot brotherly bonding events like the Progressive, the A-School Semi-Formal, the Humpback Hike, lunches at local resturants, and grocery store runs. The last one was especially helpful when the snacks in my dorm room were starting to run out. The thing about VSAP though is that it's pretty new, with a relatively small group of people in it. In the future, I'd liek to join the exec board and try to expand events, getting more people to come and participating in more school-wide projects.
STUDENT STAFF ASSISTANT
Currently, I'm working as a Student Staff Associate to the Facilities Manager at the A-School, where I help set up for school events, critiques and displays, along with breaking those events down. I also help with general facilities management like fixing desks and moving furniture. The job, while the not the flashiest, has allowed me to make connections within the A-School and become a more familiar face for current and maybe future professors.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Just like in my hometown, I started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in Charlottesville, where I worked at "Village 9," one of the local build sites. Over the first semester, I've been exposed to a variety of different stages of the building process including trim, drywall, and, unfortunately, painting. It has been a much diverse experience than in my hometown, which makes me excited to continue doing it next semester and further in the future.
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH NETWORK
I'm on the Symposium Committee for URN, whose main responsibility is to create a biweekly newsletter outlining research opportunities that students at UVA can apply to. However, in the spring, we're responsible for organizing the symposium itself, which acts like a science fair for students to display what research they had been doing over the course of the semester or the year to potential employers.
INDIAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION
While I'm not fully involved with the Indian Student Association, I joined because I that it was cool to not be the only Indian kid around, and figured ISA would be a good way to meet more Indian people. While I didn't get the opportunity to be a First Year Liason, I'm considering applying for other roles in the future, and want to further my involvement in the club more than just going to events for the food.
FIRST-YEAR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Obviously, with it being my first semester, I haven't gotten the chance to do much yet, but I want to continue to get the most out of my UVA experience, whether that be joining a fraternity or more clubs, maybe joining a club sports team, submitting to literary magazines, or any other hobby or skill I want to continue developing for college. I still have seven more semseters, and I'm excited to see what other opportunities UVA will unlock.
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