“Wherever [my mother] is, she doesn’t strain herself to complacency… I want to talk like her and be like her. She has tons of friends and whatever organization she joins, she moves up roles in a year.”
After hearing TJ say that about her mother, I laughed to myself. To be in the presence of someone so humble was funny to me. Giggling, I looked at her and said, “TJ, that’s exactly what you did!”. In the year and a half since TJ came to the U, she has been the President of a student cultural group and the Vice President of the College of Liberal Arts Student Board (CLASB). She also headed the very first case study competition in CLA. This year, students compete to solve a business problem created by Target Corporation. Normally, these competitions are exclusively for Carlson students. TJ lead the program herself, presenting it to the board, creating a committee and working with other board members to create this new opportunity for CLA students.
Q: Where were you born and where did you grow up?
A: They’re totally different! I was born in India and then I moved all around. I was born in South India which is weird since I’m from North India. So I lived in North India for a bit, South India for a bit, and then Czech Republic, Poland, and then again in India, and now here, but originally I’m from Delhi.
Q: Why did you move around so much?
A: My father works in the aluminum and steel business, so he moves around from job to job because he likes the experience. It’s just him and his inquisitiveness. That’s why we had to move all over. But me, being a single child, I just went wherever they wanted me. I learned how to adjust really well because of it, so thanks, Dad!
Q: Prior to the CLA Student Board, what roles of leadership did you have and how did being a woman affect your role?
A: My freshman year I was the Events Officer and the Public Relations Chair for this Indian student group, the Hindu Conversation Club. After that, I was an Admissions Ambassador in CLA for a year and a half. I’m an International Student Ambassador, so I’m in that group as well. I’m also a Teaching Assistant for Hindi, and I’ve done a lot of activities outside of the CLA Student Board.
I think that being a woman in leadership is being more and more appreciated as time goes on. I think that being a woman has helped me a little bit in all these roles because it’s given me perspective that’s different than another person might think. I think also my background and the diversity of where I have lived has really helped me.
Q: Did you always see yourself in a leadership role or was it something you grew into?
A: That’s actually really interesting. Now that I’m a Psych major, I was thinking about that. I think in a way, it was a way for me to gain acceptance in every new environment I went to because I kept moving around so much. I feel like it was a platform for me to get to know everyone and for everyone to get to know me. I could be a passive student but that isn’t me, I need to be the know-how, I need to know what’s going on and be friends with everyone. I think I gravitated towards those positions because I thought that it would give me a spot in whichever place I went… I need to have my own people and I need to have my own space, and I think that’s what pushed me towards leadership, unknowingly.
Q: Why was the Target Case Study competition so important to you?
A: I feel like when I joined CLA, and even before that, I never thought of CLA as something anyone had negative connotations to. But when I joined the College of Liberal Arts, there was a weird [stereotype] attached to CLA students…There are so many students that are doing liberal arts because they want to… I feel like those connotations that everyone at the University knows about aren’t justified for CLA. It was that passion within me [to change the stereotype]. I think it was always simmering in my mind- and then I went to the Target interview to be an intern, and the idea just popped into my mind right there. Target does so much for Carlson, why aren’t they doing anything with CLA? So I started discussion there and used my interview as a way to get in with Target. It all worked out. Luckily, I got the internship. They wanted more students from CLA. They were surprised by this negativity that still surrounds CLA. So I wanted to create in my own little way to help bolster the education in CLA as more than “liberal arts.” We’re really diverse. We’re really intelligent. We have all this knowledge that’s different from everyone else, so that gives us an edge, so we should get the opportunity to show it. I’m really grateful that Target took me on and took us on.
Q: What advice do you have for other young women who want to pursue positions in leadership?
A: I feel that the biggest thing is to hold your own. Be confident in your ideas and thoughts and don’t be afraid to talk and put your ideas out there. Leadership is a great way to challenge yourself to think outside, to be a part of groups and to speak up. Don’t be afraid if you see [an application]. Click on it. Apply! What’s the worst that can happen? That’s the ideology I use. All those bad things that come into your mind, they actually aren’t true. You’ll be rewarded. If not now, later.
Q: Outside of CLA Student Board, what are you passionate about?
A: I’m passionate about singing, definitely. I’m trained in Indian Classical singing. I try to find different avenues to keep up with that. I have a band–a little band. It’s a very multicultural band. We have members from all over the world. I’m very passionate about that. I also like to know what’s going on in the world. If I can’t, I try to surround myself with friends who can tell me what’s going on in the world or who can discuss with me what’s going on in the world.. I’m really passionate about spreading positivity, as cliche as that sounds. I like to be around happy people and I like to spread happiness. That’s something I don’t need people for–something I do everyday. I don’t even think about it anymore. I think that for leadership and even for life that’s something that’s really important.
Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: Ha! Study. Really though. And going back to before, singing. And there are all these other student groups I am a part of and we go out together and have retreats and [I] hang out with them. I’m huge on family. I really like to spend time with my family, and I have some family that lives in Plymouth to so I try to reach out and make plans with them.
Q: Who’s your role model?
A: Again, as cliche as it sounds, my mom. I am extremely close to her. She is a woman of amazing grip. She has moved around everywhere with my dad. But in every point in his life, she has found something for herself. She has been a Market Region Head, a CFO of companies, she’s done her Ph.D now, she has an M.B.A, she was an Economics major, she has a Master’s in Economics… Wherever she is, she doesn’t strain herself to complacency.
She knows so much about everything. Whether it’s food, languages or anything. I need to learn her organizational skills. I want to talk like her and be like her. She has tons of friends and whatever organization she joins; I think she moves up roles in a year.