“APUSH? More like APUSH me off a cliff!” my seniors would often groan. Hearing that, I didn’t have high expectations for my junior year AP US History class. My middle school history classes in India were lecture based and focused on the recollection of facts. Not having much background in American history didn’t help either. Things quickly changed once the school year began. My teacher, Mr. Ivy, did a great job of engaging the class in discussions, drawing...

“I’m attending Rice!” my good friend Jennifer Yeh told me in 2015 – and that was how I first learned about Rice. Junior year marked the start of my college search. After attending information sessions, researching online, and talking to seniors, my top criteria for an undergrad college emerged. To me, challenging academics, research opportunities, collaborative community, a medium-sized school, and a diverse urban setting were critical. At Rice’s information session, I learned about Rice’s 90% medical school acceptance rate...

“Oh gosh, we’re going to fall off, gosh! What are those berries? Oh gosh, gosh!” I exclaimed. The elephant we were riding made her way steadily down the uneven hill through the lush forests of Kerala, India. I was worried I would fall off, but still curious about the lusciously red berries I had just seen. My dad joked, “Those must be goshgosh berries!”. Now, anytime I get excited about learning new things, my family laughingly says, ‘Varsha’s...

I breathed a sigh of relief as I held the 3D prosthetic model in my hands, the joint moving smoother than I imagined. Weeks of effort by our team - from days of modeling and tinkering to several failed 3D model prints had finally paid off. Computer science classes showed me I love to build, and my internship at Microsoft reaffirmed that. The 3D prosthesis project, however, was special - motivated by the story of a friend who had devastatingly...