I discovered that Smith academics are very strong, and I have found several fields of study that I like as well as very supportive professors.

I am doing research with one of my physics mentors, Professor Gary Felder, and I am now working on a special studies project that focuses on early universe physiology. I also really enjoy my printmaking classes in studio art; they are three-hour classes two times a week, and it gives me a lot of time to spend on a project that requires many steps in a process. The satisfaction I get from this has been a lovely surprise. With printmaking, you don't know exactly what the end product will be, and you discover what you want to aim for. Cosmology feels like a similar quest, a field that also seems to require many steps in a process going forward and always the hope of an unexpected discovery.

“I would never want to give up the education I am getting at Smith. It’s all worth it.”

Smith has made me more confident, made me believe more in myself. As a South Asian woman, I have not felt out of place at Smith; it is open and welcoming. Still there is an emotional strain of being so far away from home. But I also would never want to give up the education I am getting at Smith. It's all worth it.