Soni Shukla

The Temple Scholarship gave me so much more than financial aid. Larry Temple and my fellow scholars empowered me to shift my internal beliefs through the opportunities gifted to me by the Temple Scholars program. At the Temple Scholars' reunion, I discovered how impactful dedicating a life of service to your community is. I talked to generations of Temple Scholars, all of whom went on to use the resources provided by the program to not only achieve their professional goals and amplify their passion and pour it into their community. I realized that investing in a student is not just investing in them but investing in all the lives they are bound to improve with the resources, knowledge, and skillset they gain from the program. When we invest in a student, we invest in entire communities.

The second way my internal beliefs changed because of the Temple Scholarship is I finally understood what UT's slogan: "What starts here changes the world" actually means. I realized that what starts at UT changes the world because the academics, the mentorship, the professional opportunities challenge us to strive for greatness. Through enduring and perpetual striving, we are fundamentally changed as people to realize our potential. The world changes because WE change, and being surrounded by scholars who so relentlessly and habitually strive for excellence acts as a contagion for success. 

Finally, the opportunities I was gifted through the scholarship, like being able to attend President Biden's address in LBJ earlier this summer, changed my internals beliefs to dream bigger. I had never thought I would be watching the POTUS give a speech in-person, but once I had, I was forced to challenge myself to dream bigger. Prior to the scholars program, I was hesitant to share my dreams of pursuing law and perhaps owning my own firm and running for political office---I thought my dreams were too big. Oftentimes, I would get skeptical looks when I discussed my goals and was met with incessant questions regarding the potential hurdles I could encounter on the way. When I became a Temple Scholar, instead of questions about potential hurdles, I was asked questions about the next step. When I was asked "So what platform would you want to run on?" rather than "Are you sure? Politics is hard to break into" I was pleasantly surprised. By casually asking me about the next step, I felt affirmed in my big dreams, and when my fellow scholars echoed their goals of launching startups or non-profits, I knew I was in the right space.