Sujata Krishna | The Human Connection Drives My Effort

[#1]

My Journey to #AchieveMore

I started teaching at a diverse university serving a largely low socio-economic, first-time-in- college set of students. I had newly immigrated to the USA. It was an eye-opening experience that changed me and helped me integrate. I came to know students whose lives were so different from mine. I got to see how hard they were trying to improve their lot. Students studying while holding down one or two jobs, students with young children, students who missed class to show up in court, students who had younger brothers shot at the border. I am a lecturer in physics. It is a subject I find beautiful, satisfying and absorbing. I teach undergraduate students. The main reason I teach is for the human connection. I find meaning in helping them in their journey of self-discovery – discovering who they are, what they find engaging and finding their place in the world. To have that small, yet vital role in their life is worthwhile. To be able to guide, to be able to unlock an aspect of their life is perhaps what drives me. Why physics then? Why not the humanities or be a counsellor? Because physics holds my interest. It is my modus operandi, that allows me to connect with the student in a way that I enjoy. And from time to time there is a by-product which is other than physics, a fringe benefit if you like. And that is equally satisfying. And that is why I teach, rather than do research. I value that human connection. There is a quote from Einstein on the bulletin board right by my door, "I never teach my pupils I only provide the conditions under which they can learn.

What Drives You to #AchieveMore?

View Current Winners

See All Stories

Submit Your Story