IndiaParentMagazine

2015 Through My Freshman Eyes

By Sindhu Ravuri

About the Writer:
Sindhu Ravuri, freshman, UC Berkeley is an award winning writer and journalist. She recently won UC Berkeley's Alpha Delta Phi Literary Scholarship (1st place), and CAA Leadership Award as well. Her article on college online dating won Gold Key Award (Scholastic) 2015. In 2013 she won Merida Award at the San Jose Mercury News Mosaic Internship. As a senior at the Harker School she founded Wingspan Magazine and worked as its Editor-in-Chief.

With the year I have been marking on my calendar for a decade now passed, I thought it was worth jotting down my mental map/rundown of what stood out in 2015. Let’s dive in.

The iridescent tassel swung uncontrollably, dangling in front of my forehead waiting to be grasped. Finally, I moved the jittery dancing strings from left to right, marking my transition into the collegiate sphere. I was officially done with high school.

Clearly the number 2015 holds a lot of value for me. Since I started Kindergarten, I have been in the same school amongst the same group of people – the Class of 2015. My school username started with “15,” as did my email, and it is the same number etched onto several tacky spirit shirts safely tucked away in my closet. 2015 has been a year inextricably bound to my identity.

Perhaps this is why I have been more sensitive to the things that have happened this year, why multifarious occurrences of the past 365 days have resonated with me in unique, inexplicable ways. In hindsight, for instance, I have come to recognize distinct attributes of my graduating class within the ups and downs of this year. In other words, with each person I brushed graduation gowns with, I now associate a larger theme or character that epitomized 2015:
                                                                                         

1. The Female Leader

To my front, stood Sarah – Associated Student Body President, and a strong female leader. The past 365 days has seen no shortage of those: women who aren’t afraid to make their stories heard and their presence known in a crowd, even when faced with denigration and speculation (like when, this year, Nobel laureate and biochemist Tim Hunt said publicly that women in science were a distraction to males). 41 women came forward about their experience of sexual assault by one of the country’s most beloved comedians, Bill Cosby. Their fortitude, confidence, and tenacity not only ensured his conviction, but also inspired millions of victims nationwide to fight for themselves.
                                                                    
Similarly, a female character carried the torch, or should I say lightsaber in the film with the highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In showcasing a woman as the protagonist in a historically male-driven series, the movie industry emphasized that a female could indeed battle amongst her male counterparts with just as much mental and physical ability, forging new paths in the minds of young audiences worldwide.

Women also propagated their influence in the NFL sphere, becoming for the first time part of the crew and coaching assistant team. In changing the history of the sport, these women initiated a hopefully long line of gender universality in football. And, in Hollywood, Emma Watson delivered a gut-wrenching explanation of what feminism really means – gender equality, while Jennifer Lawrence spoke against the wage gap. With young women fighting for causes that matter and advancing their rights, it is inevitable for young girls like myself propel those same movements in years to come.

2. The Scientist

Behind and to the left of Sarah stands Andrew – the smartest science genius in my class. He will definitely one day change the face of biology.

2015 has been all about incredible scientific discovery. In this year alone, through CRISPR (clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats, or segments of DNA that can be used for acquired immunity), scientists have genetically modified human embryos despite all odds being against their favor; they have discovered the first new antibiotic in 30 years; they have successfully mapped the epigenome; found new calculations that show other planets in the habitable area of the Milky Way, making it a possibility that other life exists; they revealed a new DNA-based blood test that can determine every virus a person has ever had from a single drop of blood; announced new bionic lens that will allow people to see three times better than 20/20 as early as 2017. The list is endless. And it’s still just the beginning.

3. The Fashionista

Next to Andrew is Jessica, the resident fashionista of the Class. She dons a shimmery pearl dress under her graduation gown. Yet Jessica also wears contrasting neon pink high heels and a green bandana. Her idiosyncratic yet somehow elegant sense of fashion reminds me of the changing definition of fashion and beauty that permeated in 2015.

For example, Ashley Graham became the first ‘plus-size’ model to appear in Sports Illustrated, directly challenging the status quo of what it means to be “sexy.” Overwhelmed with boundless media portrayals of size-0 models, seeing a woman attempt to be fearlessly breathtaking but relatable, authentic, and curvy gave me power and comfort in myself. Ashley personified a larger movement revolutionizing the voluptuous nature and range of the female physicality, reminding us that we all deserve love for who we are. This movement of body acceptance, as well as the “booty” revolution, really gained momentum this past year with several music videos and celebrities speaking on the issue (such as Tess Munster). It even expanded to men through the concept of the “Dad Bod,” where the archetypal six-pack abs became secondary to the more realistic body, flabbier stomach. Ultimately, this redefined the standards of aesthetics and acknowledged the spectrum of physiological appeal.

Jessica’s dress also brings forth in my mind the infamous dress debate  – was it gold and white or black and blue? The heavy discussion about the dress (posted on Tumblr) opened up a unique and interesting dialogue about human perception, and became the most talked about thing for a while. It showed us how distinct lighting situations infiltrate our visual perception of color. We think we see certain colors based on the surrounding light’s brightness. Visual cues matter, people. How much dresses can do!

4. The LGBT Activist

In the second to last row stands Krishna – the LGBTQ+ Advocate. He dons a bracelet of rainbow colors to demonstrate his allegiance to the movement for LGBTQ+ equality. He is one of thousands this year who were euphoric with victory when the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Now, Krishna reminds me of the tremendous step forward we made toward love for all this year.

In addition to the legality of same-sex marriage, 2015 was the year of transgender awareness, with Olympian Bruce Jenner publicly transitioning into Caitlyn Jenner – a courageous, unprecedented act that challenged the gender binary and spotlighted the journey of transgendered people nationwide. LGBTQ+ pride likewise remained strong throughout the year with famous athletes (like soccer player Ramona Bachmann, wrestler Matt Cage and baseball player David Benson), reporters, country singers (Ty Herndon at the age of 51), and other celebrities coming out and reminding us once that that sexuality doesn’t define who we are in our careers and life.

5. The Douche

Now, every class has its fair share of bad seeds, jerks, all-around douchebags…you know what I mean. And that person – let’s call him Brad – is standing right in front of me during graduation (I know, my luck right?). He’s the condescending know-it-all who somehow gets what he wants. How is this at all related to 2015 you ask? Two words: Donald. Trump. Need I say more?

The man who has called Mexicans “rapists,” and confirmed the plan to require Muslim-Americans to register with a government database or carry special faith I.D. cards in the United States of America, became the Republican presidential front-runner. Despite his blatant misogyny against female reporters, racism, and prejudice, Trump has indelibly left an impression with the masses and solidified his standing in the race to lead our nation. In a country that prides itself on diversity, to be led by someone who wants to incapacitate whole sectors of the cultural community would devastate the country and set us back decades.

6. The Student of Color

Then stands me, and my entire row – the students of color. Students whose lives can be impacted easily by the shade of our skin tone and the cultural assumptions associated with that skin tone. 2015 marked a year where xenophobia based on color infiltrated even the safest of environments. In a time when there are more mass shootings (more than or exactly four killed) than days in the year, including the San Bernardino attack allegedly orchestrated by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen), hostility toward certain minorities and biases have heightened xenophobia. These perceptions inadvertently bleed into daily situations, such as the classroom, like when a bright young 14-year-old Muslim student in Texas who made a clock out of a pencil case was arrested for creating a ‘fake bomb’ that threatened his teacher.

2015 was an individualistic year full of firsts – sure, it collapsed as it went but the advances we made this year were several. Though we have a long way to go, the leaps we made and the marks we left make me glad to have graduated as a member of the Class of 2015. Congratulations, fellow survivors – we did it!