Name: Nirav "Monty" Prasad
Age: 22
Major: Business management economics
Minor: Mathematics
Hometown: East Palo Alto, CA
UCSC college: Merrill
Favorite class or professor and why?
My favorite class was Pixar Experience, taught by my favorite professor, Daniel Scheie. Professor Scheie engaged us in the topic of looking at art outside of the box, emphasizing the techniques and ideas that Pixar Animation Studios used to make their animations come to life on the big screen. Daniel Scheie is a remarkable theater arts professor, and he brought all the ideas from his experiences at Pixar into our classroom.
Most memorable experience at UCSC?
Being an Intern for the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center (AA/PIRC). This internship program provided me with skills in networking, communicating, organizing, and self-reflection. It allowed me to define what it means to be an Asian American and gave me ideas for how we could help bring the AA/PI community together on campus.
Favorite spot on campus and why?
My favorite spot on campus is the Ethnic Resource Center, which is a great space for all students of color to relax and communicate with their fellow peers, staff, or faculty. Everyone and anyone is invited, which makes it a very safe space for all.
How has UCSC shaped you?
UCSC has made me more responsible and capable of understanding the world around me. This school has prepared me to work out school problems on my own and make sure to always have hope for things to get better, because they always do.
What are your future plans?
My future plans are to graduate from the university into the job market and hopefully find a job in the business world. Leaning more toward the accounting aspect of my job search.
How did you choose your college, and how has your college affected your education?
TKTKTK NEW ANSWER COMING [[[[I chose my college because it was a University of California, a well-known prestigious institution that would be very likely to educate me into a great person. And this college has given me more than a place to live and learn, it's given me an opportunity to include myself in a community were I could belong to and come back to anytime.]]]
Accomplishments:
As an intern, I co-organized an Asian American/Pacific Islander Men's Issue event and a Mixed-Race in Science Fiction event, and I co-edited three issues of our local newsletter, Sharp New Alternative Perspectives (SNAP).
As a student organization leader, I've organized many events and participated in numerous skits and dances.
I was a dancer in the UCSC Bollywood dance team, the Soneh Slugs, and we won our first competition, called San Jose Mast 2007, held at San Jose State University.
And being able to graduate this June is an accomplishment in and of itself.
