I didn't choose Computer Science — I was already doing it. Before my first semester, I'd built and shipped websites for schools as a freelancer, charging real money for real work. College didn't introduce me to development; it gave me a framework for what I was already drawn to. What it did introduce me to was research and community — and those two things changed the trajectory completely.

I'm not a build-first person. I plan — concisely, but properly — before a single line of code gets written. Then I prototype, put it in front of real people, collect honest feedback, and iterate until it's actually good. That cycle is how civic infrastructure ends up at Bharat Mandapam and how a hackathon platform handles 25,000 visitors without breaking. I'm also building toward something of my own — a product, a company, something that matters. When an idea hits at 2am, I'm working at 2am.

The version of me that started college was quiet — someone who had the knowledge but not the confidence to fill a room with it. Communities changed that. IEEE, EDC, RAC — they taught me how to lead, how to disagree productively and still ship together. Today I lead teams of hundreds and I still think that transformation was the most important thing my undergraduate years gave me.