Anuj Ramani

Hey, my name's Anuj and I'm 17 years old! I was born in London before I moved to Washington D.C. but I spent most of my life in New Jersey. For the last year and a half, I've lived in Amsterdam and my international upbringing has given me a unique outlook on the world.

I've been playing soccer for as long as I can remember; currently I'm on my school's varsity team and the selective Netherlands Football Club. I also play varsity softball and enjoy table tennis and track and field events like the discus and shotput.

Over the last few years, I have completed internships with several leading companies around the world. I worked on data management at Philips, marketing strategy at Wieden+Kennedy, talent acquisition at ING, industry innovation at Samsung Cheil, and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) at Cognizant.

I have been a Boy Scout since middle school and recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. My Eagle Scout project involved collecting and fundraising for soccer equipment and apparel that would benefit underprivileged children in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

I have served as a guide for the Boy Scout National Youth Leadership Training Course in the UK, a youth football instructor for mentally challenged players, a math tutor for underprivileged students, a musician at assisted living centers, and a volunteer at my local library.

I've been involved with Math Team since middle school, when I placed in the regional MathCounts competition. In high school, I competed at ARML and the Lehigh Math Competition. Upon moving to Amsterdam, I captained my new school's math team; recently we placed at the ISMTF competition in Austria.

In my journey from an inexperienced white belt to a second degree black belt teenage instructor, I have learned that self-defense complements compassion.  It is this duality of Taekwondo that I enjoy - that it is not simply physical training, but also about peace, discipline, and kindness.

Recently, I have developed a passion for coding and am a member of my school's Coding Club. I have participated in several hackathons and online coding classes and am enjoy using Java, HTML, CSS, Python, and Scratch.

Despite having little artistic talent myself, I appreciate art greatly. Over the course of my many travels, I often make it a point to see installations and museum exhibits featuring unique and engaging works of art.

Photography has a hobby I discovered after moving to the Netherlands. I like photography because it's a great way to document all of my travels in a way that cannot be expressed by words, even if it's just a quick snap on my iPhone.

I am the youngest in a family of five. I have two older sisters; one graduated from Stanford University with a degree in economics and the other is attending Kings College London, pursuing a degree in physiology. My mother is a research scientist and my father works in finance.

I always make time to read and some of the books I've really enjoyed this year include Nudge by Richard Thaler and Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.