What was your biggest challenge freshman year?
One of the major differences between high school and college is the amount of independence and responsibility you have in college. Everything is pretty much in your hands, and the results you obtain can have far-reaching effects on the future. There isn’t really anyone to coddle you around. What did you learn about yourself
Anirudh
Sundararaghavan Alpharetta, Ga. ∂ Biomedical Engineering
during your freshman year?
I think adaptability and resilience are the two things I learned about myself last year. I was able to roll with the punches that college threw at me and come out a more experienced and hopefully better person. Did you have any experiences that surprised you last year?
This past summer, I studied abroad in the Oxford program. Going into the program, I wasn’t really sure what to expect as it was going to be the longest amount of time I have spent away from home. I was going to be in foreign countries and was going to have to pretty much fend for myself, as my parents would be thousands of miles away instead of being only 30 minutes north of Georgia Tech’s campus. It turned out to be one of the most amazing and fun experiences of my life. Meeting all the great people, seeing all of the famous places, learning about music and paintings that we got to witness firsthand—it was probably the best summer of my life, and I was taking classes for credit. Any doubts I had were completely unfounded, and I would definitely recommend anyone who hasn’t studied abroad yet to do so. You might be surprised at how much fun you do have.
Has your major or any of your career goals changed since
undergraduate research for at least my next three semesters.
last year?
I’m currently still on my path as a biomedical engineering major on the pre-med track. My goal is to graduate in the spring of 2014 and hopefully get into a medical school to pursue a career in medicine. As of now, I haven’t found anything in the major that would turn me away and am enjoying my major classes. The medical school thing may still be up in the air depending on how much I enjoy volunteering at Grady Hospital, which I am going to try and do next semester. I guess it’s always good to keep your options open.
What ’s your favorite
What extracurriculars
What are some aspects of
are you involved in now?
life at Tech that you haven’t
A couple of organizations that go in line with my interest in medicine, cancer in particular, are R e l ay f o r L i f e a n d C o l l e ge s Against Cancer. I am currently lucky enough to be on the executive board of both organizations while trying to spread awareness regarding the fight for a cure. In addition, I am also a brother in the Delta Chi fraternity. I am also a writer for The Triple Helix scientific publication at Tech and have written a paper about international stem cell policy for it. I recently got accepted into a research scholars program here at Tech, so I will also be involved in
yet explored, but hope to?
Tech tradition?
I pretty much love watching any sport to ever be played, and college football is no exception. One of the most exciting things about fall semesters is going to football games and cheering on the Yellow Jackets. That being said, the homecoming game and homecoming week in general is likely my favorite annual event. All of the events and competitions that are held make the entire week a lot of fun because of the spirit ever ywhere. Beating C lemson doesn’t hurt either.
I was pretty involved in many different community service events in high school, but that involvement has definitely decreased in college. There are so many things to do in college that one can sometimes lose sight of what is important. Community service is definitely important to me and I hope to rectify my negligence in the upcoming semesters.
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