21 Under 21 Series: Veda Appannagouda Patil

Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Major: Political Science major, English and Education minors

What is your proudest accomplishment at Carolina?

Running for Campus Y Co-Presidents alongside one of my best friends, Thilini Weerakkody. Seeing the outpouring of love, support, and trust from the Y community we've cultivated over the past 3 years at Carolina was and continues to be so incredible. All of the work I do at the Y is truly a labor of love, and I feel so lucky to be in this space and to be entrusted with stewarding the Y for the next school year. 

What does your work on campus and beyond mean to you? Why is it worthwhile or rewarding for you?

So much of my work on campus has been about opening up spaces in leadership for other marginalized communities, which is why I have such an extensive background in outreach work. I think forming relationships across difference is the most fundamental task in cultivating empathy and solidarity, and outreach enables me to do that in a very tangible and gratifying way. I'm always thinking about who is allowed be in certain spaces, who isn't represented at the table, and how we can get more voices at tables where people of Color can and should be at the forefront. My work is rewarding to me because ultimately it's about cultivating community and understanding one another, which is both essential to interpersonal wellbeing and simultaneously a form of political resistance in a world that actively tries to isolate and silence us. 

How does your identity - your culture, queerness, citizenship status, etc. - motivate your work?

Reckoning with my identity as a South Indian woman with American citizenship has been a unique exercise in both privilege recognition and self-empathy. My parents and I are immigrants, and we were naturalized in 2009. I think in many immigrant communities there is a sense of resignation when dealing with racism and xenophobia. It's seen as another tax to pay for the privilege of living in a country with opportunities like America. I grew up in the suburbs of South Charlotte and went to an incredible public school, and as a Hindu Indian I never really had to worry about Islamophobia or being targeted because of my background. But despite the privilege I grew up with, I felt stifled and immobilized for most of my life because I didn't have the context or vocabulary to articulate my frustration. Being South Asian means being privileged in some relative sense, but also being rendered invisible. Oftentimes I feel like my presence in spaces comes as a surprise, which only further pushes me to open up spaces for everyone else. 

Who is a woman of color who inspires you and why? (Your mother is a totally acceptable answer!)

I love my mother very very much, but in terms of someone who inspires me in my life and career aspirations, Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy is everything I want to be. She's a novelist who wrote the Man Booker Prize winning "The God of Small Things" as her debut, and went on to do two decades of activist work and writing on behalf of low-income, lower caste Indians. She is fiery, temperamental, and so uncompromising in her values. I truly think she's the conscience that India needs in this moment. An absolutely phenomenal woman.