My name is Hiral Parikh and I am a Freshman this year. I will be pursuing my Bachelor of the Arts in Psychology. I am a member of the Schreyer Honors College and a member of the Paterno Fellows Program.  My home is Old Bridge, New Jersey. I look forward to improving my writing and public speaking skills over the duration of this Rhetoric and Civic Life course as well as getting to know the rest of you.

Now that you’ve read about who I am in my standard way of introducing myself to strangers, let me tell you about who I really am. My name is Hiral, pronounced “Hee-ruhl” and my name means “like a diamond.” So almost there but not quite. Basically cubic zirconia. My initials are HP so I’m basically Harry Potter and of course I own an HP laptop because its like having my laptop monogrammed. While I do not have an interest in sports, I have been training in kaizen karate for 6 years now and martial arts is central to who I am. When I’m not training, I’m usually eating, sleeping, or watching another season of a TV show. But I also truly love art and being artistic; which you’ll get a taste of that in my passion blog.

This blog will document my first semester in college as I grow and learn through my experiences here. I hope to see the progress I make over the next few weeks while my writing improves and skill strengthens. This class will teach me how to communicate and express myself clearly. I not only hope to improve myself but also you, my classmates, through the duration of the fall semester.