A Level Stories Class of 2019: Empathy: Haripriya Sharma

EMPATHY

Name: Haripriya Sharma

Class: 19/01

Haripriya was a student of SRJC. She faltered in her first year and was retained, but bounced back resiliently when she repeated JC1 in Anderson Serangoon JC. She learnt from her mistakes, prioritising and making more judicious use of her time.

Even as she chose to focus on her studies, Haripriya was someone with deep empathy for others. Having lost a friend to depression previously, she was especially watchful over others who displayed signs of going through a hard time. She was nominated to be in the pioneer batch of Peer Support Leaders in ASRJC, a group that was dedicated to recognising signs of and responding appropriately to emotional distress. She believes in walking the difficult journey together with her vulnerable friends, and reaching out even to complete strangers among her peers to offer a listening ear. Her empathy for others also extended to her community work outside of college. She is still currently volunteering at a hospice and is tutoring young children from low-income families.

Despite a bout of dengue during the 2019 A-Level Examinations, Haripriya obtained a laudable 80 rank points. She hopes to pursue a course of study in Business. While a career in the social work sector might seem a more fitting choice, she feels otherwise. To her, having a distinct delineation between professional work and volunteerism helps maintain the clarity in her core mission of helping others out of her own volition.