Mrinal Asthana

Please use the space below to tell us how you believe a Rutgers education will help you achieve your personal enrichment or career goals. Six months ago, I looked in the mirror and recognized myself. More recently? Not so much. Sure, there were still similar shapes; a beard, and an uneven nose, yet the lines were blurred. My life had blurred. “So you’re saying your word is the truth and the words of the other three board members are false?!” The treasurer of my fraternity once again vehemently accused me. A week before that, there were three serious accusations brought up against me, and they were discussed in my absence. A meeting was held exclusively to discuss my situation, or rather a meeting to give me my punishment. The resulting situation was a radical explosion of what rumors and gossip can concoct. “My words were misinterpreted!,” I asserted, “Can’t you see the fact that my statements were clearly open ended, leading them to be merely assumed implications?” I reflected for a moment as I stood there in front of my fellow board members, my brotherhood, trying to clear up the denunciations made against me. I was not who I was framed to be. Yet, I still had to carry the weight of that accusation, as the world around me changed. The group of people I thought of as my extended family, and most importantly my support network, turned their backs on me. I was speechless. The familiar walks around campus became a conquest. For the first time in my college career, I chose to look at the negatives. I walked into my classes but with a different perspective. I realized that I was in a place where I was merely existing. I thrive with routine,​ ​but growth comes from discomfort.​ ​This discomfort has led me to realize that the last time I felt like I was growing was back in freshman year. I decided, I needed a new environment, a place where I can start fresh and begin to grow again. After this situation unfolded, I realized that I was not being challenged in this environment. I had been floating through the semesters and in doing so, had lost sight of who I was. Though I do not regret my first two years here, my eyes have been opened to the fact that a lot of aspects of my life had become stagnant. I shed a lot of excess baggage in my life and realized that I did not want to go to school in a rural area. I wanted to be in a bustling city. I want to be on a campus that has major resources like hospitals and multi million dollar research lab facilities. I want to be on a campus that has a diverse community, a place I will be challenged but have enough opportunities to work through my challenges. I truly believe Rutgers University is a place where as a pre-medical student I will be able to push past the limits I have placed on myself and position myself to succeed. In the end, I have chosen to not be a victim of my situation, but rather take control of it. As I stand up and look away from my laptop screen after sending this application in, I will look into the mirror. The lines aren’t lucid yet, but it’s a start.