Invest in TEAK Fellows & Future Leaders

JAMES KARMACHARYA
Trevor Day School '24 I Columbia University '28

My name is James Karmacharya, TEAK Class 21. After recently graduating from Trevor Day School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, I am now a freshman at Columbia University. Recently, I had the privilege of sitting down with TEAK’s Founder, Justine Stamen Arrillaga, at TEAK’s 2024 Gala, a celebration of the incredible community of leaders, supporters, and changemakers TEAK has cultivated, and the lasting impact this program has on students like me.

When asked to reflect on what I might tell my younger self, I thought of saying, “Be proud because you’re at Columbia now.” But I knew the only response I’d get from that 9-year-old boy, scared and uncertain, living in a shelter in Nepal after the earthquake, would be, “What’s Columbia?” That boy had no concept of a world where such dreams were possible. Then, on May 4, 2018, just a few years after moving to the U.S., I received an email saying I’d been accepted into TEAK.

At TEAK, I stepped into a space that felt like a breath of fresh air, a place where I wouldn’t be defined by what I lacked, but by all I am and could become. TEAK showed me that where we come from is just the beginning of where we can go. I’ve been to places I’d never imagined, from participating in Shakespeare plays to engaging in conversations with community leaders, attending my first NBA game, and even studying abroad. It wasn’t only about what I did that makes TEAK so special, but it’s who I did it with. From celebrating our acceptance six years ago to celebrating our admission into college, many of us as first-generation students, I have shared unforgettable moments with fellows who’ve become like family. The happy tears I’ve shed with TEAK staff as they helped me realize my dreams and the friends who have become brothers and sisters along the way make TEAK more than just a program; it is a family.

At TEAK, we share a responsibility—a fellowship—that encourages us to be vulnerable, to lift each other up.

When at times I feel like I have nothing to give, an older TEAK Fellow once reminded me, “If someone believes in you and chooses to help you, as TEAK did for me, the only thing left to do is to take that gift and pass it forward.” TEAK, to me, is about understanding that what we gain, we don’t just keep. We share, we elevate, and we make space for others to grow. TEAK is more than a program, it’s a promise—a promise I intend to keep, to take the support I received and extend it to others.