This is my younger sister, Aarushi. This picture is a little old, she’s currently in 8th grade. Aarushi is definitely one of the most important people in my life. I admire her intelligence and openness to change. I also admire how sure she is of herself and her confidence in both herself and her future. She’s one of my best friends and someone I know I can count on. She’s incredibly talented as well, she can sing, dance, act, and is an amazing soccer player! She’s one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine people I know & she continues to inspire me every single day!

 

 

 

 

These are my parents. They’re obviously super huge influences in my life and their values and expectations have had a huge impact on who I am today. My dad is one of the smartest people I know and he’s actually one of the big reasons I was interested in Freestyle. He’s a software engineer so seeing him work was my first exposure to coding. Although coding for web design and software are two very different things, he was one of the people who got me interested in pursuing Webaudio at Freestyle. My mom is obviously a huge influence in my life. She consistently pushes me to do my best and is one of my role models. I’m very lucky because my parents trust me a lot & therefore give me a lot of freedom. Though they’re both definitely mentoring forces in my life, they let me experiment and figure things out for myself as well. Both of my parents continually inspire and encourage me & are some of the most important people in my life.

These are my Mama & Mami (mother’s brother & his wife in Hindi). My Mama (uncle) has always been one of my favorite relatives, and a huge part of my life. He got married to my Mami (mother’s brother’s wife in Hindi) when I was in 3rd grade. Indian weddings are typically very elaborate and relatively lengthy affairs and theirs was one of the first weddings I remember actually going to. They are some of my favorite people in the world and I always love visiting them. For a while my sister & I were some of the only children in their life so they were almost like a more relaxed and fun set of parents. They recently (just in April) had their first child, a girl named Siya. She’s definitely one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen (I’m definitely not biased at all :-)) and I love their entire family to pieces!

This last picture is of my Mom and Nani (maternal grandmother in Hindi). My Nani is one of my biggest role models. She’s very intelligent, a talented singer, an amazing cook & much more. She always has a smile on her face and only good things to say about people. I can only hope to be half as compassionate as she is. She’s also one of the most adventurous people I know. Despite her arthritis, she’s always ready to go for a hike or try something new! One of her favorite sayings is “praufilit raho” which loosely translates to “be happy”! She is one of the strongest and most inspiring role models & I am so thankful that she’s such a big part of my life. My Nana (maternal grandfather, not pictured) is another a huge inspiration to me. He is one of the most determined, successful and strong minded people I know. His resourcefulness and sense of humor never fail to inspire me and make me smile.