Personal Statement

It’s always the same after every introduction and a little history lesson about the Christianity of India. The all too familiar question “ Since you’re parents are both pastors, will you become a pastor too?” If I can count there may be around 3,000 times people asked whether I would become a pastor since I will be fourth generation women on my mother’s side that go to seminary. It still confuses me every time why everyone thought I would become a pastor like my parents. Indeed, I come from a long lineage of pastors and missionaries from both of my parent’s families, however, I always felt it is a calling that was more sacred and meaningful rather than carrying on the family name. The question still began to take its hold on me as I wondered

These activities ranged from being a worship and youth leader in my church, serving various boards, volunteering in the National Youth Gathering to even being voted to attend the a voting representative for my synod in the Church wide Assembly in August of 2016. I always believe that growing up in the church has always been a blessing in my life. My active participation equipped me with leadership skills that allowed me to take on different leadership positions on various respectable clubs, which included Science Organization of Minority Students; The National Society of Collegiate Scholars; the History Club and the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students. These qualities helped me to be the best leader in many clubs within academic field and community as well as created that love and desire to help everyone around me and to be open minded about the world in front of me. However, I began to realize the kind of leadership skills I developed in Church are entirely different compared to the secular places. In Church, I learned to serve in humility and with confidence knowing that I am a child of God, called through my Baptism to serve Christ. Even with all these things, I always felt my call, was different from my

From 8th grade to my senior year in college, I had believed that the best career for me was to become a Pediatrician. I loved learning about the human body and I loved children. Therefore, I took all the necessary pre-requisites, such as becoming a biology major, being active in Pre-medical clubs and finally volunteered at one of the top children’s hospital as well as Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. As a volunteer at the children’s hospital, I witnessed the pain and suffering that these children in my unit faced as they prepared for long hours of surgeries. The hardest part was the fact that most of the children were cancer patients. It just broke my heart and at times my spirit as when I heard kids screaming for the pain to stop or a baby having hard time breathing. One of the doctors who I worked with closely told me that the hardest part for him was knowing that one day he would have to tell a parent that he couldn’t save their child or go against his will and take a child from life support because the family wanted the child to die peacefully. It was a mental and emotional burden he realized he wasn’t ready to face and neither was I. A part of me would continue fighting for the child’s life because I believed life is a precious gift from God. I found out that going against what I learned in church or that went against my conscience would not