ABOUT US
We are a group of six students in the BHS Class of 2021 as well as the 2020-21 Executive Board of Multicultural and Humans of BHS Club. We decided to paint the mural for our Senior Internship in May 2021.
​
We all share a passion for creating a more welcoming and equitable community in Burlington through various organizations including the District-Wide Equity Committee. As a group of South Asian students, it was assumed that we shared the same culture, religion, and language. While our race unites us, the languages we speak make us unique. Just within our group, we speak Gujarati, Telugu, Bangla, and Malayalam as well as follow Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. In the eyes of others, we look the same, but we pride ourselves in our differences.
Vaishnavi Gudala
"This experience was extremely meaningful to me for a number of reasons. Being a daughter of Indian immigrants, I always felt like an outsider growing up. I would go to school and take on a different persona, just to fit in. Then I would come back home and take off the altered mask, my fake self. I always felt insecure about my background and culture, all I wanted was to merge and blend in. Doing this mural has allowed me to reflect on my coming of age years and finally becoming a confident young woman, who is comfortable with who she is. My native language, Telugu, is a huge piece of my cultural identity. This mural has allowed me learn about the many languages and cultures of the world, as well as become a representative of my mother tongue. I can’t wait for students, faculty, parents, and many more to see the mural and instantly feel welcomed to the community at Burlington High School."
Tania Hossain
"Making a mural that will be displayed to the whole school without much art experience was stressful. I started doing some part of the mural feeling anxious, however, once I started painting everything else fell into place. Even when it did not go as planned, adjustments were made until it met our expectations of what we envisioned."
Merin James
"This internship experience was meaningful to me because I was able to create a project that spreads a positive message to anyone who enters the school. The idea of the mural is to invite and celebrate diversity, specifically, numerous languages around the world. Creating a more welcoming and equitable environment in our Burlington community and high school is something I (and the rest of my friends) am very passionate about. Although I do not paint or draw often on my own, I am grateful to have had this opportunity to learn several painting and design skills. This experience was also very meaningful to me because I had the chance to work with my friends for the last month of school and our senior year. Getting to spend everyday with my friends and work on a project that we are all passionate about was incredible and very fun."
Aayna Khalifa
"When I first entered the school system, I was put into the ELL program to learn how to speak English. I was so excited to finally be able to communicate with students whose first language was English. I came home and spoke English to practice because I loved language. Unfortunately, I lost my fluency in Gujarati, my first language, and I found it more difficult to communicate with my grandma. I hope that this painting inspires others to stay true to their roots and celebrate where they come from."
Prapti Shah
"Being a student in BHS for the past 4 years and having the opportunity to join several different organizations, I have grown a strong passion for creating a more inclusive and equitable community, along with my peers and the help of various faculty and staff. Despite the activities and projects I have been involved in, I always desired to do something for the school before leaving, something that could leaving a lasting impact for all our efforts and could also celebrate diversity and each student’s unique differences. I had never thought that we could do it, but we did it. Also, I learned a lot from the experience and the work of art we created. Having no prior art experience or knowledge of creating digital designs, I was able to understood more of the techniques behind Adobe illustrator and creator, learn more about blending various paints to create one element, and work collaboratively and creatively with my friends. I feel so grateful that all of my friends and I were able to work on this project during the last month of our senior year, and I believe that this internship experience will be extremely beneficial for projects or activities that I may be involved with the future."
Sara Shaikh
"This internship experience for me was extremely meaningful to me as not only did I get to spend time with my closest friends but we all worked together to leave a mark at BHS. Seeing the mural up by the main entrance every time I walk by gives me a sense of joy and pride as I realize that so many students will resonate with this mural. They will see a piece of their identity in the building that I never got to experience throughout my four years. The mural states "honor our differences" and that is something that I hope students at BHS understand as they look at the mural every day. Each of us is unique and has different pieces that create our identity, one of them being language. I hope that students who come to BHS as freshmen or transfer students walk into the building and immediately feel a sense of belonging. That is something that I always wanted at BHS, the representation of who I am being proudly displayed. As an Indian-Muslim immigrant, I struggled to feel a sense of belonging in BPS outside my friend group and I hope that the students struggling with that see this mural and feel belonged. This internship program made it possible for all six of us to make this mural come to reality and leave such an impactful legacy onto future BHS students. I also hope that more students feel proud of the different parts of their identity and are inspired to leave a similar legacy at BHS."
