Aditi Sriram, Chennai, India - Summer 2016

"My name is Aditi. I have completed my engineering in Biotechnology and I'm all set to begin my Master's in Public Health at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst this Fall. That young minds are impressionable, is well-established and in my case the impressions of my childhood are a large part of the reason I put pen to paper today. In retrospect, growing up around my father's brother –a para medical officer at the Indian Council of Medical Research – has had a significant influence on my outlook to life. My uncle dedicated himself to the eradication of leprosy.  As part of his job, he would visit countless villages leading a crusade against leprosy and the stigmatization suffered by those who suffer from it, infallibly returning home with fruits to eat and endless stories that invariably involved changing people’s lives for the better. At that age, I could only grasp a fraction of what he did, and only got a sense of the number of lives he had touched at his funeral procession, where a huge number of his patients and colleagues turned up – mourning like they had lost one of their own. Through my uncle's example, I learnt that leaders have a bias for action. They invest themselves fully into their people and purpose, knowing that in the long run, all the time and energy will be worth it. This is exactly what I am looking to take back from my internship at Aarogya Seva.  Added to this, I will have the chance to interact with a group of extremely dedicated people from all backgrounds, majors and experiences. I’m sure the experience will be meaningful and humbling. "