CAS Profile

I’m Vinit Jogani (informally called V, Vi, or even Vii). I was born on December 21st, 1999, in Surat, India. I come from a Gujarati family, and although I don’t really believe in a God, I do follow many aspects of Jainism.

I can play the guitar and the keyboard. My friends say I’m pathetic at singing. I believe they’re right. Other than that, I’ve endeavored intro drama and visual arts and have been rewarded in some form or the other. My parents say I used to be a good dancer when I was a kid, now I only dance when weddings are due.

At some points in my life, I have played lawn tennis, table tennis, cricket, basketball, billiards, and football. I can swim, and have participated in a range of athletic events like high jump, long jump and running at a school-level. I’ve also trained in martial arts for quite some time. Other than that, I have tried my hand at volleyball and skating but couldn’t quite get the grip. I figured I wasn’t cut out for those sports. Now, I only play football now and then. I found real amusement in this sport, and I still play other sports sometimes, but in a busy little life, when asked which sport to play, I mostly choose football.

Although I have explored a lot in art and sport, I’ve always considered them to be my hobbies – never serious career-influencing choices. They help me distract my mind when I am sad, or they help me collect myself up after a stressful day. From a pretty early age, I had my eyes set on computer science. Computers have always fascinated me. The tremendous potential that you put into people’s hands when you hand them a gadget is completely fabulous. I began computer programming since I was in 5th grade and I never stopped. It is the one skill that I am absolutely proud of and has helped me in my life at countless occasions.

I now spend most of my programming time making web applications. The trick is that the code is never breakthrough. Anyone can program it. My dad taught me that the challenge is not making it. The challenge is thinking of it before anyone else does. I’ve learned a lot of things from my dad. I believe I get this kind of obsession for perfection from him.

I’ve been a great fan of design. Being a crazy user of the internet, you usually come across such a huge chunk of poorly designed, old-school websites. I’ve made it a point to apply a sense of finesse to my websites. Fonts, modern, minimalist and material design principles and color combinations – they really fascinate me.

I’ve been an introvert for most of my life. Although I did make quite some friends in high school and (as a sigh of relief for my mother) became a bit more sociable. Although, most of the times, I still admire solitude. I find great comfort in writing my feelings into poems and songs. Listening to other songs, therefore, I really pay attention on the lyrics. Connectable songs really breathe life into me when I’m sad. I love music.

Honestly, I don’t really engage myself into worrying about many global issues. Some express their disregard to my indifference, but really I don’t quite see the point. Most people who worry about child labour and animal trafficking end up doing absolutely nothing because they lack the sufficient means to make a change. Big talks about it don’t really intrigue me. It does make me feel sorry for the victims but I think that’s about it. No fancy talks. I am, however, a believer of a vegetarian diet. Killing animals, with the senses to perceive pain, love and belonging – it is really something that I would urge people against. I also do my best to not have a large environmental footprint by littering and wasting. Also, I do take interest in small issues that affect us at a large scale. These are the issues that I believe I can actively and measurably fix. For example, issues that I faced while studying physics in my 10th grade.

If I could build up a skill, I’d probably build up the passion to read. I’ve never seen an avid reader who is dumb. Reading is really a very important skill. I used to love reading when I was small, I just lost the passion as I grew up. Maybe someday I’ll get back at it. I hope that day comes soon. I would also like to skydive once in my lifetime. I like the thought of feeling weightless, falling through a wonderful wind brushing past my cheeks and flying at such a height. It seems wonderful. Other than that, I would love to dive deeper into the subjects I love like physics, math and computers.

Finally, I really want to do something meaningful in life – I just haven’t found it yet. I’m trying to find some higher purpose to live my life to.