08/16/2024
I am incredibly excited to announce that I have earned Distinguished Toastmaster! My journey started almost 10 years ago meeting Alex Turner at Gracies as a freshman. This achievement would not be possible without his constant friendship and mentorship. Thanks for encouraging me to grow into the man that I am today.
Corey Wilson is my grand mentor and what a grand mentor he is! I remember that He, Alex, and I practiced my first speech in the middle of Starbucks. Thanks for never holding back on the challenges that I need to grow.
My first meeting was at Tiger Tales Toastmasters in the Fall of 2014 meeting wonderful leaders such as Haleem Syed, Preethi Vaidyanathan, Robert McCartney, and many more. I was so inspired by Abdul Saboor Mobariz in his first speech that I knew that I needed to join from there. Thanks for beginning the legacy of Tiger Tales.
Too many people to name here have helped me grow along the way in my journey as a public speaker. One such person is Pritam Poddar. I remember us practicing our contests speeches over and over again. We were helping one another get better even though we were to compete aganist one another. Thank you so much for helping me strive towards arete as a speaker.
Most of my favorite memories in Toastmasters come from mentoring the next generation of leaders to become the best versions of themselves. Men such as Vaibhav Rungta, Abhishek Kempanna, Isaac Perez-Raya, Allahsera Auguste Tapo, Mingshuo Li, Kevin Assogba, Celal Savur, Dhrush*t Raval, Jason Chukwu, and Shahriar Saif. And all of the informal ones along the way :). Thank you for your trust and the cherished moments along the way.
Starting another legacy in the form of Village Toastmasters over the past year has been such an unbelievable experience. Thanks to Matt Benedict and Brendan Francis for all of the legwork that you have put in as well as every member who has turned this dream into a reality.
I know I have left people off and for that I am sorry. Thank you for every meeting, every conversation, every decision to make Toastmasters special. Leave a memory in the comments if one comes to mind.
I know that DTM is only the beginning, and I look forward to the next steps this journey!