From attending Ohio State’s Welcome Week as a freshman, to attending it as a senior on Homecoming Court, Rudra Kamat has gone through a full circle experience at The Ohio State University.
Kamat felt honored to find out she was one of the twenty chosen on the 2024 Homecoming Court. Among the twenty Buckeyes on Court, ten of them, including Kamat, are a part of the Honors Program and/or a Scholars Program.
As a part of the Court, each member gets to pick a cause they care about to fundraise for, giving them the opportunity to express their own unique passions. Kamat chose BuckeyeThon, an organization that raises money for pediatric cancer and blood disorders.
“I chose to fundraise for that organization because it's been a pretty big part of my Ohio State journey,” says Kamat. “I joined my sophomore year, and I met a great group of people who come together every week for meetings for this really important cause. I think people feel passionate about a cause bigger than themselves. It just seemed like the perfect club or cause to give back to.”
Kamat appreciates the diversity and uniqueness of the Homecoming Court. She has had the opportunity to meet each member and learn about their different backgrounds and identities.
“These people are very overachieving and really excel at what they do. Everyone excels in a completely unique and different way from each other. So, the things that I've been heavily involved with, someone else is not, but they're also heavily involved with other activities on campus that I've never even heard of before. I really appreciate that diversity of identities and backgrounds, so it's been great getting to know the Court.”
As a member of the Honors program, Kamat has also had the opportunity to grow her campus network. Kamat, a Neuroscience major with a Spanish minor, chose to join Honors to be academically challenged in her classes. The program has helped her achieve her goals of expanding her knowledge through research, studying abroad, and through her professors’ passions in the classroom.
“I feel like the professors who teach these honors level general education courses are very, very, passionate about what they talked about, and their passion is contagious, so I really enjoy the breadth of knowledge that I'm getting from them.”
Honors also helped open opportunities for Kamat to express her own passion in research. In the Townsend Lab within the department of neurology, she is a part of a professional environment while working on her own project as a research assistant. Her independent project focuses on treating peripheral neuropathy, the loss of nerves in the peripheral nervous system. She has conducted an experiment to test the effects of female hormones used as a treatment for neuropathy with mice models. Kamat has been able to contribute to real matters in the world and in science as she works in the lab eight hours per week. She has taken what she learned from class and put it to use to create impacts through her research.
Beyond research, Kamat has further impacted lives through her service in Vocalize Columbus. Vocalize Columbus is a nonprofit organization that works to provide free medical care interpretation services in the Columbus area. After passing a language efficiency test and participating in workshops and a certification program, Kamat now volunteers as a Spanish interpreter.
“I learned Spanish when I was living in Costa Rica and it's really been a great opportunity to give back and use my skills. After moving to the U.S., I started to lose my Spanish a little bit, and I knew that I wanted to keep it going and try to keep it to the best of my ability. So this was a really great way to continue using it outside of school. The patients really do appreciate the interpretation, because it can be scary going to the doctor's office and not understanding a word that the doctor or nurse is telling you.”
Born in India, Kamat has also lived in Taiwan, the Philippines, and the United States. Moving around the world has given a global perspective to Kamat. It has allowed her to gain independence and flexibility by going to new schools and making new friends. She has become more tenacious with the ability to take on more challenges and risks by learning something positive is always ahead.
“Growing up, I know that even when the times are tough, there's always going to be something positive ahead and things are always going to get better if you just keep trying. As long as you put in the hard work and do the best that you can.”
Looking ahead, as she finishes her senior year, Kamat is coming to an end of her full circle experience. As one chapter of her life closes, another one opens as she plans to continue her passions and go to medical school to become a doctor. She is thinking of specializing in cardiology or neurology, possibly in pediatrics as she enjoys working with children and their inspiring positive attitudes and resiliency.