How My Internship at WHEELS Global Foundation Shaped My College Application

by 

Vignesh Divvela

When I first started interning at WHEELS Global Foundation, I did not fully grasp the scale of
what the organization was doing. I knew it worked on social impact projects across rural India,
but the reality and impact of the organization’s work did not hit me until I was sitting down to
write my first two-page report. After reading through countless articles on the initiative, talking to program leaders, and seeing firsthand the challenges kids in rural India had when it came to obtaining education, I was completely shocked. I grew up taking education and schooling for granted, but there are kids in India who would give up everything for it. The initiative was Footpathshala, a program that brings teaching directly to kids on the streets who have no access to formal schooling.

Over two years, I wrote reports on many other initiatives like NDLI, Samarth, BioChar, and more. What I realized after writing 10+ reports was that everything was connected. Water, education, livelihood, energy, were not separate issues. Rather, they were the same problem showing up in different forms.

The mentorship I received during my time at WHEELS was unparalleled. I appreciated
having people on my side guiding my decisions, thinking, and pushing me to keep exploring and asking questions. It allowed me to change the way I approach learning at school or even in the real world.

When it came time to apply to colleges, I had something real to talk about. In my essays and on my application itself, I wrote about those reports and what they represented, showing that I worked on real initiatives. WHEELS allowed me to show that I was involved in high-quality,
impactful work. I believe that this unique perspective played a crucial role in getting accepted to both Cornell and Georgia Tech.

WHEELS is work that forces you to take what you have learned in school and apply it to
problems that actually exist in the world. For example, by learning the skill of conducting proper research in school, one could apply this skill when it comes to understanding the underlying technologies behind a solution or even working out why a particular business model is innovative and sustainable. The gap between classroom knowledge and real-world application is wide, and the students who find ways to cross that gap early are the ones who show up to college with something genuine to say about themselves.

I plan to stay involved with WHEELS through my college years, whether that will be developing more reports, integrating my AI knowledge with various initiatives, or helping fellow interns. I truly appreciate the impact that WHEELS has had on my life these past few years, and I am looking forward to many more!

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