The following was written last year by Senior Scholar Karthik.  We are proud of what Karthik achieved while in the Project.

"I wonder how many other people in the world experienced what I experienced?" I have been in the McLean County Diversity Project for over 5 years now. Each year changes me more and more.

I am a senior at University High School and I am ready to go to college. As I was writing my college application essays I made sure that I spoke about the Mclean County Diversity Project. I tried to think about how I could phrase it in 500 words or less, however, I realized that I cannot do it. 500 words to describe this Project is an impossible task.

I thought to myself, "How can I show these people what the Project means to me?"  I gave it my best shot.

The McLean County Diversity Project has given me experiences that no other student in the world will ever experience. I had the opportunity to go to Tennessee, New York, Wyoming, Colorado, and this year Anchorage. I try to teach others what I learned on these trips, but it just doesn’t mean the same to my other friends.

However, I come to the interactions and suddenly everyone is jumping around sharing their knowledge and experiences with each other. The McLean County Diversity Project allowed me to meet people who are just like me. Throughout life people will be attracted to others who have the same interest in sports, music, and movies. In the Project I met people who had the same core values and morals and it created a bond that cannot be described unless you are part of it. The Project has shaped me into an individual that I had no idea existed in me. I am able to think in new ways, be a better leader, and form critical thoughts better.

While I was on the track team last spring our coach made us run until we were completely exhausted. But he made us run more even though none of us had any energy left. That is how you get better. You get to your absolute limit and you push yourself past those limits so that next time you can run farther and faster. That is what the Project did for me. I was smart and open-minded, but the Project pushed me to new limits that I did not know I was capable of. The Project has become my life. Everyday I am a different person because of the McLean County Diversity Project. Everyday I see changes in the way I interact with others and the way I think. It has pushed me to become a better student and leader and I will always be grateful for what it has given me.

As my days with the Project become numbered, I ask myself, "I wonder how many other people in the world experienced what I experienced." The answer is zero.