Four years ago, when I knew I’d be attending the University of Utah, I was disappointed. I was desperate to leave Utah after high school, to move on to bigger and better things. The reality of out-of-state tuition quickly dissolved those plans. I remember joking that I would have to give myself Stockholm syndrome to get through the next few years. But it actually worked — at the end of these four years, I kind of love this place.
For a long time, I avoided claiming this place as my home. Answering “where I’m from” is complicated because I haven’t spent a lot of time in just one place. I lived in Nepal, England and Florida before Utah.
I used to think I didn’t fit in here. But coming to the U has shown me there is a place for me here. Actually, there is a place for you everywhere, you just have to find it — or carve it out.
When I started college, I was a biology major with the vague idea that I wanted to go to medical school. I ended up in a class my first semester called social determinants of health, which changed everything for me. I learned about how so much of our health is a product of our social environment: our communities and neighborhoods, our place in society.
Eventually I switched majors to sociology. I still want to go into medicine, but in a different way. Something closer to what Rudolf Virchow, 19th century physician who was active in politics, envisioned: “If medicine is to fulfill her great task, then she must enter the political and social life. Do we not always find the diseases of the populace traceable to defects in society?”
I got involved. My professor gave me the opportunity to do research. I met my closest friends. I saw the work being done in our community to address the problems we learned about in class. I started to join where I could — Maliheh Free Clinic, Fourth Street Clinic, SUPeRAD, the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Youthlinc, the International Rescue Committee.
Every endeavor gave me a clearer picture of Salt Lake City. Not just stereotypical Salt Lake City — the real people who live here. Immigrants and refugees, working hard to build a life for themselves and their children, starting over from scratch. People who have endured violence and discrimination, who are breaking their backs with their labor, who carry hopes and dreams. Children of immigrants like me, who are kids just like any other kids, who want to play basketball and become engineers. Women going through pregnancy sitting in the doctor’s office in handcuffs. People with complex lives and identities.
My first semester of college was also when I applied to the news desk of The Daily Utah Chronicle, followed by three years as investigative desk editor. I am so grateful to my editors who encouraged me to apply, leading me to build a desk and community that I am so proud of, with the most dedicated, talented, funny group of writers in existence. The investigative desk is a labor of love, and I’m in awe of their dedication and hard work to make it all possible.
The Chronicle is not just a cute little extracurricular, but something that has shaped my understanding of our community and world. Journalism has strengthened my ties to this community and given me the opportunity to listen to people deeply. It gave me the chance to show up to events, from protests to open mic nights, and to speak to people: activists, student groups, local politicians. To uncover the problems and highlight the joys experienced by the people around me.
On a broader level, freedom of the press is the cornerstone of a functioning democracy. It allows us all to make informed decisions, to hold people and systems in power accountable when they make mistakes, to get insight into different perspectives. It has been an honor to contribute to this legacy, and my love and respect for journalism will stay with me, wherever the future takes me.
Read local journalism, join the Chronicle, join anything. You will find a place in your community when you start tuning in and doing something about the things you care about.
