A New England boarding school-bred South Asian reflects on the ways in which he has been socialized into accepting racism and interrogates its compatibilities with other cultural tendencies of the Northeast elite. — I sat by the dining table of my Floridian college-friend’s mother’s suite at the Boston Four Seasons, listening to her debrief the chaos of her day in Boston as we awaited our dinner reservation. The venue was not unfamiliar by any means; just weeks prior I had spent time in…

A student at a prestigious, New England boarding school reflects on his time there; the role nostalgia plays at elite, predominantly white schools; and the paths we can take to making our communities more inclusive and just. “St. Paul’s School has a storied past. More importantly, it has an unwritten…

In the summer of 2019, I had the privilege of working as a U.S. Senate page. We had to be compliant with many layers of security protocol. This included forfeiting access to our cellphones and the internet when we entered the campus. Every morning, my colleagues and I would walk…

You are pronouncing my Asian name incorrectly — but that happens to be my fault — Take a look at my name for a second — “Nikhil Vootkur.” If you’re alone, feel free to say it out loud and if you aren’t, say it in your head. I can almost guarantee that you said (in air quotes) it wrong. …

(This article was initially written for The Pelican, the St. Paul’s School student newspaper) Students of color at St. Paul’s School are frequently confused for other students of color, regardless of their likenesses. Misnaming dehumanizes students of color by stripping them of their identities. Simultaneously, it reminds them about the…

When I was in the 6th grade, my father and I cofounded an education-technology startup. It’s called KudosWall, and it happens to be a resume builder and portfolio incubator for students — ranging from K-12 to University. Cofounding KudosWall was an integral part of how I became passionate about design…

I joined Medium a long time ago, back when it had its geometric-green logo and no in-your-face revenue model. I’ve always loved the content made accessible through Medium, especially everything written by and for designers. It is because of designers (who happen to be incredible writers) like Pablo Stanley —…

A new term for an old design language. — *Warning, long read! There’s a TL:DR at the end!* Who here remembers, or refuses to remember, skeuomorphism? The design language that ruled our screens before 2013, did more than just being a difficult spelling term. …

As a student in today’s world, I’ve explored a lot of different extracurricular activities, and one of my favorites is First Lego League. I’ve participated in this competition for 3 years, and from those years I’ve learned a lot — both within robotics and in basic project-habits. …