Serene Singh (seen in her Facebook profile picture) is not only the first woman from the University of Colorado to win the Rhodes Scholarship, but she is possibly the first ever Sikh American as well. According to VOA, the vision of even applying became daunting to her beginning in middle school, as she stated “I was looking at famous Rhodes Scholars, and you know, Bill Clinton and Cory Booker and George Stephanopoulos,” she said, describing a president, a senator and a television network anchor. “And … wow, these are so many cool people. But I remember very clearly thinking these people are not you. This will never be you.”And just a decade later, to her surprise, it was. However, this was not the first prestigious achievement for Singh, who’s also been honored as both a Truman Scholar and a Dalai Lama Scholar.
Ever since high school, Singh has not only been an exceptional student, but also a creative one-ending her graduation speech as class president with a rap. Now, she holds presidency over a law fraternity, serves as a chief justice for the judicial branch of the student government and even hosted the first Sikh langar community meal at the University of Colorado. With this award, Singh will join 32 other scholars, to pursue her study at Oxford University where she plans to attain a masters in both social justice and criminology. The 2018-2019 class of Rhodes scholars has been found to be the most diverse yet. As stated by US News, “The group includes more women than any other previous year and almost half of the recipients are either immigrants or first-generation Americans.
Before she graduates, Singh plans to pursue her passion to empower women, In 2013, as a sophomore in high school she participated in the Colorado State Pageant. While only making it to the top 10 that summer, Singh’s drive led her to win and become the first Sikh and Indian American Miss Colorado just 3 years later in 2016. In an interview with Brown Girl she states that “Our job and our goals are to teach all you young women how to speak, appear, and truly be your best selves. We give the crown and the sash and the trophies because we know you all would not come if we didn’t.”
Singh has also created the Serenity Project, a fashion show dedicated to showcase women who have persevered through life’s most difficult obstacles. As Miss Colorado, Singh challenged beauty norms. Now as a Rhodes Scholar, Singh is changing the face of success.
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