Introduction
Hello! My name is Ujwal Rai. I am currently a freshman at Emory University located in Atlanta, GA. Currently, I am pursuing degrees in both Mathematics and Finance. My hometown is Warren, NJ, where I live with my parents and two brothers; one older and one younger. Since my younger brother is only four years old, I have a lot of fun trying to entertain him and have an impact upon his life despite my spending most of my time at college.
As a child, I grew up relatively normal and unaware of racial tensions that developed around me and never had a traditional Indian childhood as my parents did. As a result of this, many of the friends I made throughout the years I spent in New Jersey were a variety of different races and cultures. It was not until high school that I truly felt different because of my race. The first time I was faced with racial discrimination, I did not know what to think or how to react. From then on, I tried to keep an open mind and be respectful to all religions and ethnicities.
Now that I am in college, I am surrounded by a great deal of new people that come from almost every state and even foreign countries. The Emory community is seen as an accepting community, but even in an academic environment, it is hard for some to forget the things they grew up with and changing the old ways can be extremely difficult.
As an extension of the previous idea, the personalities we have met on the Internet are no different. They hail from countries all over the world and the Internet can be seen as a great service uniting different peoples from the corners of the globe. However, is this really the case? Is the Internet as diverse and accommodating as it is perceived or do is the racial divide prevalent even in cyberspace?
As a child, I grew up relatively normal and unaware of racial tensions that developed around me and never had a traditional Indian childhood as my parents did. As a result of this, many of the friends I made throughout the years I spent in New Jersey were a variety of different races and cultures. It was not until high school that I truly felt different because of my race. The first time I was faced with racial discrimination, I did not know what to think or how to react. From then on, I tried to keep an open mind and be respectful to all religions and ethnicities.
Now that I am in college, I am surrounded by a great deal of new people that come from almost every state and even foreign countries. The Emory community is seen as an accepting community, but even in an academic environment, it is hard for some to forget the things they grew up with and changing the old ways can be extremely difficult.
As an extension of the previous idea, the personalities we have met on the Internet are no different. They hail from countries all over the world and the Internet can be seen as a great service uniting different peoples from the corners of the globe. However, is this really the case? Is the Internet as diverse and accommodating as it is perceived or do is the racial divide prevalent even in cyberspace?