A publication of The Graduate School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Archives Spring 2001 Home | Back issues | About us | Email your feedback | The Graduate School | UNC-Chapel Hill | Make a gift |
|||
From Rickshaws to Sky Blue Buses
Latané Fellow Shweta Singh pursues a dream at Carolina Time
is precious, especially for Latané Fellow Shweta Singh, who is
separated from her loved ones by a vast ocean and connected to them only
by telecommunication satellites. But Shweta is determined to make the
most of her time at Carolina. A doctorate in social
work has been the single most important goal in my life for quite some
time now, Shweta said, and UNC-Chapel Hill has allowed me
to pursue that dream to its end. But along with the chance to
pursue her dream at Carolina came several adjustments and challenges.
For Shweta, growing up in Lucknow, a charming rural capital in India near
Mumbai (formerly Bombay), was a far cry from life in Chapel Hill. While
many of us recall spending a portion of each hectic school-day
morning on a crowded yellow bus, Shweta recalls being taken to class on
a cycle rickshaw, the speed of which was determined by the strength of
her drivers legs. The buses here are less
convenient than the rickshaws, and they can be very confusing, Shweta
said. Thankfully, Im now able to ride a bus without asking
the driver at every stop, Is this my stop? When Shweta came to Chapel
Hill in August, she left behind more than just rickshaws. Her family and It was a difficult decision,
Shweta said. For my part of the world and at my age, choosing studies
and profession over marriage is a kind of social anomaly. Through all her challenges,
though, and in spite of the thorny decisions she has had to make, Shweta
has stayed focused on her dream. And right now, Shwetas dream is
to study a relatively novel concept in social work known as social marketing. Social marketing combines the
fields of marketing, communications and psychology to form social work
programs. Shweta said she hopes to find ways to create and evaluate social
service programs that use this integrated approach.
Shwetas research advisor
Dr. Dean Duncan said he thinks, her background and professional
experience in India drive her interest in social marketing. Shweta
has worked as a social worker for non-profits and as a newspaper reporter
in India, giving her an ideal background for social marketing research. Shwetas Indian background
also proves to be quite useful during discussions about her colleagues
research projects. Shweta said, people in India really value individualism
in thinking, especially in research. In India, we approach
research a bit differently, so I bring a new perspective to the department
here, Shweta said. I ask my colleagues a lot of questions
that really make them think, because they might not have thought of it
in that particular way before. Quite often, Shwetas
international perspective and unending curiosity help other students gain
insights they may have otherwise missed, Duncan said. Were
very happy that Shweta is in our program here in the School of Social
Work at Carolina.
|
|||
© 2002, The Graduate School, The University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill Contact Alexandra Obregon at aobregon@email.unc.edu if you have technical problems with this Web site. |