My name is Rishi. Technically, it's Rishikesh Venkat, but I go by Rishi. I'm a neuroscience enthusiast, photographer, obstacle course runner, and, more than anything, a health freak. The above quote is perfect for understanding who I am because that is what I model my life around. Being a pre-med student and seeing others around me, I often find that, as students, we model our lives around our majors and academics. This community is to help you realize that life is more than just your job, major, and academics. It's an opportunity to do anything and everything. If you think this is too good to be true, just read my story, and you'll understand that I'm not selling you dreams but showing you how to do it.

In my sophomore year, stressed about my grades after freshman year and not wanting to have a repeat of those grades, I embarked on a journey of only focusing on my grades. What ended up happening? I excelled that semester, and it was my highest semester GPA-wise yet. To paraphrase a saying I heard in a podcast, There are no wins without trade-offs in life. So here were my sacrifices: friends, gym, photography, and video games. Most of my happiness was sucked away, chasing a 4.0. Knowing that this path of chasing grades to reach my destination of medical school would lead to nothing but unhappiness in my future, coupled with burnout, I decided to make one final trade with life. 

I traded in that time, spending hours buried in books, and started to focus on studying smart, regaining my hobbies, spending more time with my friends, and starting a new chapter of obstacle course racing. What does that look like? I had a 4.0 in the fall semester of my junior year, volunteered at hospitals, worked out again to be in the best shape of my life, paid attention to my food, helped my friends with their workouts & nutrition, and started trying new things like the Spartan Race. 

This shows what one can do with life when one realizes what life is about, the journey along the way. 

P.S.: Two things that help a lot are time management and a drive to enjoy life.