Best $3 I ever Spent

“Hey Sejal! I’m trying to win a contest at work today. If you are willign to help, a $3 donation to this page would be awesome! I’m trying to win an AMAZING prize (that I can’t reveal, for legal reasons but if I win, I’ll clue you in :))”
Needless to say, I was intrigued. And the fact that it was Samarth who was asking me. You see Samarth is one of those friends that I don’t talk to or see too often, but when we do catch up or I reminisce about our conversations, it’s impossible not to smile. We met in college but became friends after we took a class together at the University of Illinois. (Which really worked out for me: I could barely make 10am classes and he would be there in the front row, ready to go.)  Since I graduated and moved to the west coast, we’ve kept in touch through the web and random rendez-vouses (Is that how you would write the plural of rendez-vous? Anyone?) on trips back to Chicago. Since I graduated (he’s a couple of years younger than I am), Samarth went on to do a study abroad in Dubai, graduated from the U of I, went on to get his MA from UChicago (told you he was a smart cookie!), and is now working on Obama’s campaign. Not only is he a smart cat (intellectual and not-so-intellectual conversation and debate tend to follow him), and talented (he can sing [sixth from the right in the video and he’s still the only person who’s ever sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, well!] and dance [which bodes well when you’re the kinda gal who can’t help but bob to the beat whenever you hear good music]), but he has the kind of spirit and curiosity that makes everyday an adventure.

Back to the story: it was a random request and pretty ambiguous, but hey, if I could help a friend out, I’m all for it! So I donated $3. (Actually, I think I might have donated twice because of a credit card snafu. Still worth it.) A few days later, this is the email I (and others who donated) recieved:

“Dear family and friends,