Name: Sugandha Gupta
Year: Junior
Major: Health Science and Psychology
Hometown: Edison, New Jersey
HCSB: What are all the activities you are involved with on campus?
Sugandha: “I’m the upcoming president for the Psychology Student Alliance. I’m on the Bhangra dance team and going to be PR for next year. I’m a student ambassador. I’m a part of the women’s leadership council here at Stony Brook. I’m involved in a research lab with Dr. Anne Moyer, and a part of the psychology honors thesis program.”
HCSB: Which activity has really shaped your Stony Brook Experience?
Sugandha: “I want to say all of them, but particularly I want to give a huge shout out to the Bhangra dance team. I think joining that really helped me because I feel very confident when I’m dancing and so that confidence has spilled over and made me feel unstoppable.”
(Sugandha during a Bhangra dance performance, 3rd from the left.)
HCSB: How did you get involved with these activities?
Sugandha: “A lot of networking. I’ve been very lucky to meet some really amazing people who have connected me to amazing opportunities. I think that’s one of the really great things about Stony Brook in general: people know people and they can help you get to where you need to be.”
HCSB: Who has influenced you the most over the years?
Sugandha: “It has to be Dean Stein. Just seeing how passionate he was towards the students and to making sure that every single student reached their full potential here. How invested he was, how every single time you had a conversation with him he was looking right at you, completely paying attention. It really showed how much he believed in the students. That helped establish me to realize what I could do and how I could do that for someone else. His dedication and passion toward the school helped me fall in love with Stony Brook. He connected me to Dr. Anne Moyer which got me involved in research and that has helped me define my career goals. His influence in my life has been beyond describable, truly amazing.”
HCSB: What advice do you wish you could tell your freshman self?
Sugandha: “To not worry so much about doing everything by the rules. When I came in freshman year I was the kind of person who had these strict guidelines of the way that I wanted to live and the way that I wanted to see my life, so I think I restricted myself. The moment that I started realizing life is what you have, it’s every single day living it to the fullest and making sure that you’re happy, I stopped having those guidelines. That is when you realize that you have to be confident of the morals that you live by and those will stay there whether or not you’re getting up or going to bed at a certain time. It’s all about being flexible and living in the moment. I used to be very organized; I had to go by an hour-by-hour planner. But you have to have availability to be free and do whatever you want to do Also, I think that the biggest thing is don’t be afraid of taking on too many opportunities because when you want something to happen, you will find time for it to happen. You shouldn’t put those restrictions on yourself.”
HCSB: What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
Sugandha: “Friendship is a big thing. I feel like I’ve connected with a lot of people here on campus and a lot of the people who I have met here I’ve had the great honor of them respecting me and them seeing a lot in me. I like to return the favor to people and give them the power to believe in themselves, like I’ve been able to have that, too. So passing that along, motivating people just by helping them believe in themselves. If in a couple years from now, I’d like to be remembered as a really awesome friend and that I gave that kind of support to someone.”