While Gursimar Rana’s summer internship has helped him become more proficient in technology, it has also helped the teen deepen his faith.
Gursimar, an incoming senior at University Preparatory Academy in Willow Glen, is one of five Silicon Valley Bank of America Student Leaders working with LifeMoves, a nonprofit that provides interim housing and supportive services for Bay Area homeless. He and his fellow interns are building a database to house LifeMoves’ internal information to make it easier for the nonprofit to connect clients with resources.
The teen says his internship overlaps with community service work he’s done through the Sunday school at Guru Nanak Khalsa, a Sikh temple in San Jose.
“The word Khalsa is a concept—the concept that all people are equal and everyone is allowed to exercise human and civil rights,” Gursimar says. “Our faith is based on three Golden Rules: Share with the needy; work hard and earn living by doing honest work; remember God is always there.
“Taking this into account, our temple used to hold food drives, clothes drives and blanket drives for donating to various shelters and homeless camps.”
Gursimar says he’d like to see Silicon Valley tech companies step up to do more to alleviate the financial and social inequities that are helping cause the area’s homeless population to increase.
“Apple’s recent commitment to put $400 million toward affordable housing is exactly the type of action that tech companies should be doing during these tough times,” he adds. “During the pandemic, Silicon Valley’s homeless population would have increased as people are losing their jobs, and the government can only do so much to help out.”
Seeing some of his friends’ parents lose their jobs as businesses shut down due to COVID-19 inspired Gursimar to raise about $650 to donate to his school to help pay other students’ AP exam fees.
“I am worried that this crisis will affect my generation more than it has,” he says. “The past five months have been really tough for the students and adults, and it has been affecting people mentally. The shelter-in-place (order) leads to loneliness and mental health issues among teenagers and young adults.”
Gursimar’s internship is helping him look beyond the pandemic.
“We have national financial training calls regarding ‘Better Money Habits’ in which the bank is preparing us for our financial future,” he says. “We are also given a $5,000 stipend from Bank of America Student Leaders.”
