When reading an article on the local news last year, junior Amant Grewal was shocked to find out that even within her own community, there are many instances of racial injustice. While national headlines regarding civil rights issues are common, seeing something so close to home was a splash of cold ice water to the face and motivated Amant to make a change.

Amant’s pursuit of such a topic certainly did not stop at just articles. Amant is the president of the debate team at FHC as well as co-president of the Forensic Speaking Club; she also participates in Model UN. Together, these clubs help Amant gain a greater understanding of the world and systems around her.

“One of the clubs I lead is debate,” Amant said. “[We do] a lot of [learning about] the policies that are discriminatory—for example, last year, our topic was the death penalty. I learned about how racist the death penalty is, and that made me really passionate about that.”

The debate team is not the only club that Amant has found learning opportunities in. Some of the lesser-known clubs such as Model UN have been a staple in her life. Model UN is a club where real-life events, potential situations, and more are simulated to understand how the United Nations function. 

This is a very valuable experience that not many get to take up due to the general lack of knowledge and understanding about this club. However, it has helped Amant greatly.

“Model UN [is] where I learned about international issues,” Amant said. “One of the topics I worked on was the right to peacefully protest. I find information through clubs a lot of the time, and it makes me passionate about those things.”

Not only has Amant joined, lead, and competed in clubs, but she is also working towards starting up a new club alongside others: the FHC Diversity Club. 

“I think [the Diversity Club] will bring a lot of awareness and a sense of community here,” Amant said. “I think it will help with allowing us to engage in service and break out of our FHC bubble if we’re allowed to go out into the community, and do other things.”

Amant is focused on the here and now, but as her experiences have taught her, it’s important to plan for the future as well. By taking classes at GRCC, Amant is getting the information she wouldn’t have otherwise.

Currently, she is taking Comparative Government, and prior to that, she took American Government at GRCC as well. Next year, she plans to take a race relations class. This is in order to prepare her for the field she plans to pursue, which is law. 

“I’ve always wanted to advocate for something,” Amant said. “I want to work for the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) in the future. One of the pathways for doing that is going into advocacy law.” 

Obviously, law is a very difficult and competitive field, but Amant’s hard work in both school and her extracurricular activities is bound to pay off. Not only does Amant reach for her goal by taking part in school year offerings, but she also is finding things to keep her occupied during the summer months.

This coming summer, Amant is planning to help out with political campaigns by volunteering for a plethora of things. 

“Our district for the House of Representatives was changed in 2020,” Amant said. “Before, it contained a lot of rural areas, but now it contains mostly urban areas, so the voting demographic of it has changed. Whenever that comes around, that’s something I’d want to support and help with [through] some kind of communication volunteering role.”

Despite the fact that Amant has deeply researched her passions, she hasn’t definitively picked out a college yet; however, she already has a location in mind.

In order to be where the action surrounding her interests and big changes in our country often occur, Amant would like to go to school in Washington, D.C.

“There are a lot of opportunities for what I want to do—a lot of advocacy organizations are based in D.C. or around D.C.,” Amant said. “That’s where you can get internships and actually make a change.”