Eshika Kaul ’23, who was an intern in LSC’s Federal Tax Clinic, was recently named as a recipient of the prestigious Truman Scholarship. Read more below about Eshika and her work assisting low-income taxpayers, and how she hopes to use her passion for economics to bring about systemic change.
Excerpt from: From Taxes to Quantum Computing: Truman and Goldwater Fellows Pursue Passions | by Carine Tarazi, Wellesley College News
Kaul, an economics and peace and justice studies double major, brims with particular enthusiasm for the tax code. “When I started working at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School and their Federal Tax Clinic, I really had no background in taxes. I thought it was an incredibly complex process,” she says. These days, she uses her tax knowledge to help low-income taxpayers navigate the system and directs them to other resources they might need. “Witnessing how the tax code intersects with other systemic barriers, I have come to view it as something like a gold mine for helping people,” she says. “It was so valuable to see how my work centered around taxes empowered my clients to be able to pay their children’s medical bills or put food on the table.”
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship was awarded this year to 58 accomplished college students who demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, academic excellence, and a commitment to a career in public service. Madeleine Korbel Albright ’59 was president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation from 2003 until her recent passing; while Kaul never met her, she has connected with Wellesley alumnae who received the Truman Scholarship in years past. Kaul is excited to have a community of public service-minded scholars with whom to exchange ideas and cooperate down the line.
Kaul’s passion for economics stems from her interest in understanding the world by quantifying it, she says, but “the world is so inherently complex that I also wanted some contextualization and a different perspective.” Through economic research at Wellesley, work at the Department of Commerce, and on-the-ground volunteering through the Ministrare Council, Kaul is exploring different ways to serve her community. “My economics and peace and justice double major has allowed me to see, in different ways, what works, what doesn’t, and how to support people,” she says. Crediting her mother and brother as her main inspiration, she also attributes her successes thus far to those professors who pointed her in the right direction.
It was so valuable to see how my work centered around taxes empowered my clients to be able to pay their children’s medical bills or put food on the table.
Eshika Kaul ’23
Kaul will work in an economic consulting firm in Washington this summer through the Wellesley in Washington program, hoping, she says, to “understand to what extent I will incorporate economics into my future policymaking or future career.” She is considering attending law school but hasn’t decided on a future career path. Among other lessons, she says, “the pandemic taught me the value of being very open-minded to unexpected opportunities. … I have found that the experiences I pivoted to were the most valuable in enhancing my skills to enact the systemic change I hope to make.”