After a life altering event, Krishna Pandya moved across the world in search of better opportunities

By Elena Calias

January 23, 2024

For 15 years of her life, Krishna Pandya called India home.

The streets of Ahmedabad, Gujarat stay filled with vibrant colors, rays of happiness and celebration. The shouts of street vendors and echoes of laughter can be heard by anyone traveling through.

The narrow alleyways become playgrounds for children, the area filled with street food, festivals and vendors trying to pull in customers to purchase their artifacts. There’s a chaotic and buzzing energy that floods the streets.

The city feels alive.

Closing your eyes, you can smell the savory and slightly bitter scent of Dosa – a crispy and crepe-like street food very popular along the streets of India.

Dosa is Krishna's favorite Indian dish and one she misses deeply.

Krishna’s family left their life behind in Ahmedabad in 2018 to move to Lanchester, Pennsylvania. Krishna said her goodbyes to her childhood, but welcomed in a wave of new and fruitful opportunities.

She always had a dream of coming to school in America, and chasing that dream meant she would have to leave India in the past.

“In India, they grade everything so hard and I had to wear a uniform,” Krishna said. “It was very cultural, but the people there were so nice.”

Krishna took multiple private classes at her international school to make her dream a reality. She focused on academics, as well as extracurriculars to get involved outside of school. In fact, she competed in international yoga as a way of staying busy.

Her love for India was never lost, but her family knew there weren’t many opportunities for her there.

When Krishna was little, she faced a personal tragedy that inspired her to come to America.

“My grandpa died in 2012 because the hospital in India messed up.” She said.

The tragedy brought Krishna to the realization that she wanted to study healthcare to ensure that this wouldn’t happen to anyone else.

“I want to have more power over what the doctors do,” Krishna said. “So other hospitals don’t mess up as they did with my grandpa.”

Krishna kept this goal in mind, and she wanted to pursue healthcare management administration, where she would work on the business side and have more power.

The unknown of moving to America made her both nervous and excited. But there was one thing she did know for sure.

This next chapter of her life would guarantee success for her.

In 2021, she was accepted into High Point University with a scholarship. At the age of 17, her dreams were becoming a reality.

Krishna always dreamt about going to college. Her passion for helping people and wanting to make a difference in our world was starting to unfold right in front of her.

At HPU, she stays involved as much as she can to make herself and her family proud.

Her freshman year, she was SGA Vice President for her graduating class – making a powerful first impression and creating a solid first year. Now as a junior, she’s still involved in SGA as a class senator and has expanded her horizons to join different clubs.

She is the External Communication Chair for Panther Real Estate Club as she manages her time between the Entrepreneurship Club and Sales Club. By doing all she can, she has learned so much and gained a lot of experience.

“I personally like being busy because it keeps me away from overthinking everything. I am a very involved person and I love it.” Krishna said.

She is now taking a step back and focusing on her company, Monas Creations. A handmade jewelry brand she started this past summer. Her business started as a joke, but when Krishna saw its potential, she decided to drill down and focus on it. In just six months, her business has grown exponentially.

“I thought that maybe I could pull this off so I talked to my parents about it, but they wanted me to focus on my studies…now they're obsessed with the business.”

Over the summer, she did three pop-ups a week, and her business skyrocketed. As a young businesswoman, she has a lot of role models to follow.

Her mother’s former fashion business inspired Krishna, using the products left over from her mother’s company to get started. Krishna located a manufacturer who shipped all the jewelry to her. She currently has over 4,000 different kinds of inventory including necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings.

The next step in running her own business includes getting photographers and creating a website to expand her business even further.

“It is a lot of hard work, but it's good to interact with people. It makes my day,” Krishna said. “I am also getting sales experience.”

Running her own business has expanded her knowledge and has allowed her to dip her toes into the real world of sales.

Krishna has been working in the fall and spring High Point Furniture Market for the past two years, where she was given the opportunity to work with different vendors and gain lots of experience.

At only 19 and closing more than 250 sales at Market, she is set up for success. While her studies and business have been causing Krishna to maintain a full load, she always makes sure to go back to her roots.

Traveling home in November, she celebrates Diwali, their Indian New Year. Meaning a “Festival of Lights”, families come together with joy and laughter.

The streets are filled with vibrant colors and bright lights, while dancing and singing go on all through the night.

Fireworks illuminate the night sky. You can hear the crackling and pops left and right creating a sense of awe and wonder.

“Diwali is getting the whole family together,” Krishna said. “It brings me so much joy being able to be with my family and experience these festivities together.”

The streets become alive as decorations, paper lanterns and sparkling lights create a visual feast for the human eye.

The elders give you blessings and gifts for good luck and prosperity. Family and friends are a big part of Krishna's life as they inspire her each day.

Krishna will forever be connected with her Indian heritage as it is a passion she will forever cherish. It's her childhood and a place she will forever consider a home.

Now being here in America for the past five years, she has been given opportunities she never thought were possible.

“I am so thankful for all the experiences I’ve been given here in America and I cannot wait to help people in my future.”

She has created a family here in America and at High Point University.