2025 Student Blog
January 13, 2025
Waste Doctor
During my time in India, I have found myself reflecting deeply on life and questioning the true meaning of success. Each day going to different NGOs around Bangalore has brought thought provoking lessons, not through textbooks or lectures but through the stories shared by extraordinary individuals living with purpose and conviction. Over the past week,…
January 12, 2025
Discovering Renewal Through Water, Shiva, and Sustainability
A bell rings in the background, said to bring in energy. This is funny to me because the city is vibrant and filled with energy already. From car honking to the sharp blows of a policeman’s whistle. At times, I can feel this energy buzzing beneath my skin. But today it feels different, the stone…
January 11, 2025
Trees Helping Trees
“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.” This Sanskrit phrase means “The world is one family.” More on that later. Today we parked on a dirt road in the outskirts of Tamakuru, a smaller town to the Northwest of Bengaluru, and trekked our way through what seemed to me like a jungle. We were visiting the Ghandhian School of Natural…
From Green Fields to Burning Streets
On our visit to the Gandhian School of Natural Farming, we were joined by Bhargavi Rao, whom we had met just yesterday at BMS. To list all of the work Bhargavi is involved in would require me to write an entire blog post about her, so, I’ll simply say that her efforts focus on environmental…
January 10, 2025
A World Apart Yet So Alike
Today was our first day at BMS College of Engineering, and the hustle and bustle of students on campus instantly transported me back to the familiar energy of UW. The library filled with students studying, the cabinets of trophies lining the walls, and weaving through crowds of students brought a comforting sense of being back…
The World I Will Never Know
Having lived 99% of my life in not only the US but one of the nicest parts of the country, I always knew that I had a wide variety of privileges. Even knowing that, there are times where I realize the extent of those privileges go much farther than I fully understand. On January 9th,…
School Lunch
Growing up in the Seattle Public Schools system, a common lunch conversation would be that “the pizza tastes like cardboard”. We left the hostel bright and early at 5:30 AM to go see Akshaya Patra, an NGO that prepares school lunches. No matter how tired us GCILers are, everybody is always excited for our activities…
Akshaya Patra
Today we woke up at the crack of dawn and took a bus to Akshaya Patra, an NGO dedicated to providing healthy and hygienic food to schoolchildren throughout India. This NGO treats the grand challenge of food for all- as well as education, as providing healthy meals at school encourages attendance. Akshaya Patra sources produce…
Success and Distress
Impressed, inspired, reassured are all words I can use to describe my experience at Rise Bionics today. We began our afternoon walking through the wooden doors that led us into Rise. From just looking at the logo and the design of the door, I could tell that a lot of thought was put into the…
January 9, 2025
Finding Trust in Community
After a hardy meal and good company, we venture back onto the bus. We’ve been told to make observations with a clear and open mind. I see buildings with vibrant colors. I see streets lined with motorbikes, and motorbikes, and again, more motorbikes. I see chili peppers sitting on the steps of people’s homes. I…
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