Anjali Shinde, senior
As the co-president of the Gay Straight Alliance Club, Shinde works towards lowering the negative viewpoints of the LGTQ+ community. Within her years as a member, she walked at Orlando Come Out With Pride, collected money for Aids Walk Orlando and raised money for the Zebra Coalition.
“It is really important to me that everyone in the community feels safe and accepted. Especially when that is not something that everyone gets in their home or from the people around them. Everybody deserves to have an equal amount of respect and care as human beings,” Shinde said.
With GSA, she plans to leave an even greater impact for the LGBTQ+ community than last year by organizing more group activities, implementing gender neutral bathrooms on campus, giving teachers sensitivity training and educating middle schoolers about the LGBTQ+ community.
“We’ve been talking about [gender-neutral bathrooms] for a few years. People should feel safe and secure. They shouldn’t have to worry about bullies or not knowing which bathroom to go into,” Shinde said.
Providing happiness and acceptance does not end with Shinde’s involvement in GSA. She also brightens moods with her musical talent.
Playing the flute since the sixth grade, Shinde’s hobby transformed into an inseparable bond.
“[Playing the flute] helps ground me; I feel different when I don’t play it,” Shinde said.
Attending Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s music camp this past summer, Shinde ended her six week stay on an emotional note.
“We played Wagner’s Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral. It was a very sentimental moment because it was the last piece I [performed] in my six-week program. It is a very intimate thing to create music together and that was our very last moment of doing that. Everyone in the band was in tears, or on the verge of crying, by the end of it. I’m pretty sure the audience felt the same way too,” Shinde said.
With her devoted stance in creating equality and joy within her community, Shinde inspires others to stay true to themselves and embrace one another’s differences.