Hi, my name is Gitanjali and I used to think that if you couldn’t pronounce it, then its your problem and you should get it right. However, I learned that I would have to meet people half because my name is kind of hard to pronounce. Now I would say, “hi, My name is Geet.” Now if you can’t pronounce “Geet”, something is definitely wrong with you. I basically met you more than halfway. No, I did not shorten my name because it would easier for you. This is my nickname at home and it basically means music in Hindi.

I love my nickname; it’s short and sweet and I love music. It just describes me in one word. I don’t love my full name. It’s not short, it’s not sweet. In third grade I won a contest fro having the most letters in my name. That was a stupid contest. Why would a teacher make that into a competition? Anyways, I’ve gotten used to it by now, but I still prefer my nickname.

When I was younger, no one cared about names or how they were pronounced my name. Apparently, as humans we tend to complicate things as we get older. Every first day is so bad for me because of  some people won’t even try. It’s even gotten to the point where I have thought about changing my name to Geet. I don’t know, I guess that will always be an option but I wouldn’t want to change my name right now. Despite the struggles, it’s actually made life interesting. Some of the people who’ve had trouble with my name became my best friends.

Our names are a part of identity and it is part of part of the initial phase of getting to know someone. If someone genuinely wants to be your friend, they should at least try to say your name right and not change it.

Names mean a lot, get it right.

Obviously I added more than eight pictures in my slideshow, because I   I needed more. II’m a very easy going person and I really love meeting new people and just making new connections. The”hakuna matata” picture basically describes what I’m working towards. I used to be very stressed out and worried about unnecessary things and now I just look for the little joys in life.  I think my positive attitude has a lot to do with my love fro nature, because that helps me relax. If I didn’t go to the park or go outside to look at the trees or hear the birds, I think I would die. Yes, It’s that serious. I’m a tree huger, sue me. I love to take part in environmental causes and I’ll probably be at he the People’s Climate change walk this Sunday . I know I’m in a business school and I’m thinking about an accounting major, but I love nature and my dream is to work in the United Nations Environmental Program  and be a part of a more beautiful world.  When global warming and the green house effect was a big deal, I was one of those people giving out flyers to “help save the world”. I love nature and it’s a huge part of my life. Do not litter around me. My best friends are in a few of the pictures and they are just some the best people I encountered in my short life.  As you can see from the pretty messy picture of my room, that’s what it looks like during the week, and I clean on the weekends. I’m a very neat person, but I get super messy sometimes. In life too, I think it’s okay to make mistakes and sometimes what we think is a huge mess is actually benefiting us. I like to look at my obstacles as teaching moments.  This is one of the most important lessons I learned while being in student government. It was really an eye opener and really changed my views on a lot of things. I love my life and I don’t regret anything. Yes, I’m a happy person, I believe in karma so I’m nice to most people and people are generally nice to me.

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