Consider the NC State mission, vision, values, and strategic plan. How would your interest and experience enable you to support the university?

I

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fifty-three miles from my hometown of Auburn, California, to the University of California Davis to pursue my undergraduate degree. Fifty-three miles from my comfortable, western lifestyle in my homogenous

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to an expansive melting pot of diversity. Fifty-three miles to

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a culture shock reverberating throughout my existence, reshaping everything I had ever known. Embarking on my new educational journey, I joined classrooms and

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where my race, blond hair, and blue eyes made me different from the surrounding crowd. For the first time, I experienced what it felt like to be “other”. I became conscientious of the fact that my family of nine and my religious upbringing contributed to an

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that was uniquely my own. As I attempted acclimatization, I felt the shutter of preconceptions about my intelligence, nature, and competence. I understood that the eyes that followed me and the stereotypes that coincided with being “other” were not nearly a fraction of what others

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being a minority in

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country. My

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granted me perspective, an awareness of the challenges of those around me, and the responsibility to embrace our differences and form an inclusive

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for the benefit of all. I had the opportunity to understand my background as my superpower, an identity that allowed me a unique perspective that I could share to enrich our mosaic

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. I found a support system within my university, not only in my friend circles but by joining intramural volleyball, STEM

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, and the campus Newman Center. Embracing our diversity, I learned about different cultures and values, allowing me to better understand and appreciate the world around me. My classmate Temo would lead our

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in meditations before working to help

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our energies and bring our focus to the present, a skill he learned from his Hindu culture.

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, my roommate Vaneeza and I would visit the authentic Indian market to procure ingredients to make butter chicken after exams, a comfort food stemming from her Indian heritage that her mother would cook for her when she was back home in Iran. Collaborating with

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enhanced my

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and learning, helping me achieve academic success and ultimately acquire scholarships and a departmental citation for achievement in animal science. My success would not have been possible without the help of my classmates and our ability to share knowledge, helping one another to learn and grow. I am applying to the University of North Carolina because of its mission to unite diversity to drive the common goal of excellence within the field of veterinary medicine. The skills that I have developed at UC Davis have instilled in me the power of our differences. I aim to bring excellence, collaborating with my peers and sharing the value of embracing our differences to create a mosaic that we can thrive within as a

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.