Committed to a Better Life

By Julie Collins Bates (2001 Coca-Cola Scholar) |  Like most Coca-Cola Scholars, when Rakhi Agrawal found out she was selected as a 2010 Scholar, she was busy juggling a full load of high school classes and activities. Unlike many Scholars, however, Rakhi also was working 40 hours per week and living out of her car.

“I grew up in a dysfunctional, abusive home environment and didn’t have any adult role models in my life to turn to,” Rakhi recalls. “By the time high school year rolled around, things had gotten worse. I had no one to turn to.”

Throughout high school, Rakhi had been spending less and less time at home—she was the first one to leave in the morning and the last one to get home at night, both to avoid being around her family and because she had such a busy schedule. Eventually she just stopped going home. “I’d drive around in my car and sleep in there. I occasionally snuck back home when no one was there during the day, or I’d grab a shower at the gym I belonged to.”

“It was hard, to say the least,” Rakhi says. She didn’t have a home base or a support system as she went through the college application process. She was under so much emotional stress that she wondered if she should even try to go to college.

Her high school principal and others at Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut, convinced Rakhi to apply for the Coca-Cola Scholarship and to continue on to college. “They funneled me in the right direction and encouraged me,” Rakhi says.

Eventually she decided to attend Barnard College of Columbia University. “I thought I wanted to be in New York City, and Columbia is a wonderful school with great opportunities.” More importantly to her, going to college ensured she would have a place to live, food to eat, and a job on campus—all unknowns if she didn’t continue her education. It was a means of survival.

Now a junior at Columbia, Rakhi is studying philosophy and taking math and pre-med courses. She’s trying to decide whether she wants to jump right into med school or spend some time working in a nonprofit job focused on education and health first.

Although Rakhi is upbeat and optimistic, life is still a challenge. She works more than 40 hours per week at a multitude of different on-campus jobs on top of attending classes and studying. And she’s still on her own.

This fact is most evident around the holidays.

When fellow Coca-Cola Scholar Amanda Carr (2010)—whom Rakhi had been in touch with since they met at Scholar’s weekend—learned that Rakhi didn’t have anywhere to go for the holidays during freshman year, Amanda invited Rakhi to spend Christmas with her family in Arkansas.

“It was the most wonderful, generous thing anyone has ever done for me,” Rakhi says. “I haven’t had a holiday that compares.”

Residence halls close over winter break, and students who stay on campus have to pay extra. Rakhi couldn’t afford the cost of staying in her residence hall over break her sophomore year, so her car became her temporary residence once again. “It was just a complicated mess, and my school was turning a blind eye, so I lived out of my car again for a period of time,” Rakhi says.

When fellow Columbia Scholar Pat Blute (2008) found out where Rakhi had been staying, he invited her to stay with him at his off-campus apartment in the city for a few nights. “It was so generous of him,” Rakhi says. “His support meant the world.”

As the holidays approach once again, Rakhi can’t help but reflect on her experiences. “I’ve learned to take care of myself and rely on myself first. I am my biggest and most reliable resource. I have to prioritize my health and wellness over everything else in life.”

For others who may be in a similar situation, she advises reaching out to friends. “I think everyone deserves to get support in some way if they’re not getting it from family. Definitely just reach out and ask people for what you need. It’s still hard for me to do, but it’s something I strive for.”

For Rakhi, members of the Coca-Cola Scholar family have been among those ready to help.

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Julie (Collins) Bates is a 2001 Coca-Cola Scholar and the editor of Quest. She teaches college English and environmental service-learning classes at Millikin University, Lincoln College, and University of Illinois at Springfield, all of which are located in central Illinois, where she lives with her husband and son. When Julie isn’t teaching, she works as a freelance writer, editor, and communications consultant.

*Photos were taken by Peter Kim (2011 Coke Scholar at Columbia University).