This website uses cookies. Find out more in our Privacy Policy.
Shriya Bhattacharya B.A. '18
Shriya 巴塔查里亚是全球公民和变革推动者的定义.
Although Shriya only graduated from Agnes Scott College 在2018年,她完成了一生中无法实现的梦想. 她曾在印度、比利时和美国等3个国家生活过.S. and visited 12 others. Her writing has been published in Teen Vogue, Brown Girl Magazine, and Ms. Magazine. She currently works as a Program Associate for the Universal Access Project, 联合国基金会召集捐助者的一个项目, advocates, and partners to protect U.S. 促进全球性健康和生殖健康及权利的外援.
Being a global citizen
“Home is everywhere. I’m a global citizen,” Bhattacharya said when we asked her where she’s from.
她出生在美国,12岁时移居印度. Later, Shriya came back to the U.S. for college and studied abroad in Brussels, Belgium because she wanted to be in the center of European politics. She is settled in Washington D.C. (for now). According to Shriya, being a global citizen and a Scottie 意味着你公开地与与你不同的人交往.
“你要学会接受具有不同价值观和道德观的人,并与他们进行对话. That is such a critical skill in my field,” she said. “我不是在阿格尼斯第一次学到这些东西,但我在阿格尼斯完善了它们。” Bhattacharya explained.
Shriya利用自己在Agnes Scott之前和期间获得的全球意识,在她的大学实习和目前的工作中进一步提高了自己的领导能力和人际交往能力.
“I would be the calm, 在其他人都有点不知所措的情况下保持冷静,” she explained. 有一个积极的因素,一切都会好起来的,因为你经历了搬家和结识新朋友. You’ve seen more of the world.”
The value of a liberal arts education
Shriya holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, but also emphasized that she minored in dance while at Agnes Scott.
她说:“我从来没有把舞蹈部分排除在外,因为它教给我的东西和我的专业一样多。.
她赞扬了阿格尼斯·斯科特对课堂合作和智力探索的重视. Shriya explained how she had multiple academic interests, but was able to dive into each discipline fully at a liberal arts college, without feeling as if something was lacking.
“[Agnes Scott] gave me the ability to multitask.” she said. “作为一名主修国际关系、辅修舞蹈的学生,我使用了不同的大脑半球. I jumped from microeconomics, to theatre, to labanotation (which is the written form of dance), to advanced political science. Because my attention was being grabbed in all different ways, I had to focus on different areas of studying. 我认为这一点确实适用于我目前的工作,我必须管理这么多不同的组成部分.”
A change agent at any age
在联合国基金会谋得一个职位,对任何年龄的人来说都是一件了不起的事, but especially for a recent college graduate! 有足够了解她的教授给她写了强有力的推荐信,这对她的求职申请真的很有帮助. Additionally, Shriya thanks Agnes Scott’s Center for Writing and Speaking (CWS) 谢谢你帮她提交了最具竞争力的申请. CWS是一个帮助学生写论文的同伴辅导中心, presentations, and even preparing for interviews. Shriya was a peer tutor herself for two years.
“我经常与其他导师见面,他们帮助我审阅申请材料,准备面试. It also created a sense of community, 我知道还有其他人在支持我的努力,” she said.
Shriya在联合国基金会的工作涵盖了非常不同的领域:倡导, communications, private sector engagement, and fostering strong partnerships.
“在我的职业生涯中,没有一天是相同的,在阿格尼斯也没有一天是相同的. 灵活性和适应性是需要学习的关键技能, 特别是如果你要从事国际发展或政府工作,” she said.
Pre-pandemic, 她工作的一个重要组成部分是前往其他国家举办活动,重点是性健康和生殖健康信息和服务对全球供应链中的女工的重要性. When asked about her proudest accomplishments, Shriya described planning the logistics for a two day, 300 person event in India. She managed the entirety of conference logistics, 从选择演讲者、安排午餐到组织注册和运输!
The power of the pen
Another pride point for Shriya lies in her publications. 虽然她已经通过她在联合国基金会的角色完成了一些采访和讲故事, 她渴望其他的写作机会,于是决定从事一些自由职业.
“当我离开阿格尼斯·斯科特时,我意识到我是多么怀念写作,因为阿格尼斯非常重视写论文, thinking deeply, and analyzing thoughts and getting different perspectives. I actually wasn’t getting that in my current job,” Bhattacharya stated.
Beyond her nine to five job, Shriya是《足球波胆平台》杂志的健康和政治撰稿人,偶尔也为《足球波胆平台》和Ms. Magazine. 她选择了《足球波胆app》杂志,因为她相信有色人种女性的声音被听到是很重要的. Her work primarily features youth activism and global health. She has even launched her own website. 当被问及她的作品是如何被选为出版物时,Shriya简单地说: “I just emailed them. I researched and pitched my strongest pieces to the editors.”
令人惊讶的是,Shriya在写作过程中最错过的部分之一是编辑.
“当最终稿出炉时,你会觉得这份工作很棒. 我已经很久没有在写作方面感受到这种快乐了.她喜欢阿格尼斯·斯科特鼓励学生写出最好的作品,并接受批评.
Shriya将她的自信很大程度上归功于她在女子学院的经历. However, she was not always so keen on the idea. Her parents largely encouraged her to look at Agnes Scott, but, when the college’s admission team visited her school in India, her opinion changed.
“这让我的想法发生了180度的大转变. Women can really do anything, 艾格尼丝·斯科特努力描绘“这不是梦”的画面, 看到女性担任所有这些领导职位,却看不到男性,这是我需要的一个非常新鲜的视角, especially coming from a more traditional background. 看到我可以做任何事情对我来说都是一个巨大的信心提升.”
Engaging the intellectual and social challenges of our times
Agnes Scott’s mission statement is to “educate women to think deeply, live honorably, 并参与我们这个时代的社会和智力挑战.” May we all strive to have Shriya’s level of confidence, global awareness, 以及应对智力和社会挑战的领导能力.
作者简介:亚历克西斯·斯基恩是足球波胆平台的招生助理主任. Her undergraduate degree is in public relations, 但她也喜欢创作短篇小说等创意写作作品. 在她的业余时间,亚历克西斯喜欢烹饪,听现场音乐,骑自行车.