Narayan Kulkarni’s essay on finding his inner peace will take him to Tokyo.
In October, the UF biology senior was named the winner of the 2015 International Essay Contest for Young People by the Goi Peace Foundation. On Dec. 1, the 21-year-old will travel to Japan to accept the award.
Kulkarni’s essay, "Building Peace Begins from Within," focuses on the importance of finding one’s inner peace.
His essay was chosen out of 8,943 essays sent from 148 countries in the youth category. In partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the contest had writers submit an essay on the theme "Building Peace in Our Hearts and Minds."
"The contest caught my attention because of the topic," Kulkarni said. "I wanted to write about something that was meaningful and reflective."
Kulkarni was born in India and moved to the U.S. when he was a baby. He was in second grade when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks happened. He said it affected him tremendously.
"Growing up, people assumed based on my outer appearance that I was Arabic and (thought I was) Muslim," Kulkarni said. "I was bullied after 9/11. I felt like I didn’t have a place to belong and no one understood me."
That’s when Kulkarni said he became more involved with his Hindu faith, and he used it as an avenue to find peace, which was the focus of his winning essay.
"I have learned that building peace is a process which begins from within, and that it is our responsibility to develop it first in ourselves and then in others," he said.
He said his mentor, Alexander Cena, encouraged him to develop himself as a student leader.
Cena, the director of Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs at UF, said Kulkarni is an empathetic person and is interested in social justice.
"It isn’t a gimmick," he said. "He truly and honestly believes what he puts down in writing and what he says to other people."
