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Gyana Srivastava, a Next Genius Scholar started a new chapter in her life at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Cent.
Gyana Srivastava pursued her graduation from Wheaton College, Massachusetts in 2021, with a double major in Economics and Psychology. Currently, she is working in Boston in healthcare as a Research Assistant at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
While completing her 12th grade at The Cathedral and John Common School, Mumbai, Gyana applied for the Next Genius Scholarship Program. On being interviewed about her journey as a Next Genius scholar, she said, “In my high school, I felt that I had a lot of passion, ambitions, and dreams, but I lacked the guidance to go about it, how to apply for a university and start my journey there and that is where Next Genius came in for me. The Next Genius Foundation helped me to decide which college was the best fit for me. I got mentorship in abundance and guidance on internships, career options, and job search from them and one of their previous scholars. The most essential part is that Next Genius is not just about awarding scholarships, but it is the beginning of a new journey. For me, Next Genius is who I am right now and how I describe myself”.
Gyana even shared her experience at Wheaton College. She felt that Wheaton is the best experience of her life. Since the first day, everything had been wonderful. The diversity in the college has taught her to be creative in any situation and so much more. She made some wonderful friends who inspired her a lot. Gyana added, “Wheaton is a small liberal arts college. An advantage of this is that students have the freedom to explore their interests. In the first couple of years, you can take as many classes as you want to discover more about your interests and decide where you see yourself going and what is best for you. Every class is a new experience. This is how I got to learn more about English, Spanish, Math, and Stats and I could enunciate properly due to this. You can even double major, do a major and a minor, or even create your major out of the various courses and areas for you to choose from”.
Gyana added, “The fact that it is a small college, makes it possible to have one-to-one interactions with professors and there were ample of opportunities for me to grow more holistically, push myself, challenge myself, and gain more besides of just attending college. I even had a conversation with the college President and got to be a part of the college community in that way”.
Wheaton holds multiple career fairs every year. It helped Gyana to decide where she wanted to go and she eventually decided that healthcare was where she wanted to be at. She interacted and connected with as many people as she could because it really helps in the recruiting process and taught her how to tailor her resume and cover letter. She looked for internships to occupy herself during the breaks with some opportunities to learn and grow. During her sophomore year, she interned at Next Genius and was able to teach, which was a big part of where she ended up.
While concluding, Gyana shared some advice for the upcoming Next Genius scholars. She said, “College is a time to enjoy, learn, fail, and also to get up because it makes you who you are. Use the college career services and create a LinkedIn profile to connect with people through that. Take the opportunity to approach your professors and develop relations with them. It can help you with getting research positions and working during college breaks. Learn new things and gain from those experiences. With all the challenges coming your way, take a moment to appreciate what you have achieved by winning the scholarship. It is a new chapter of your life with plenty of things to explore and experience”. She is highly grateful to the Next Genius Foundation for getting her to this position. To apply for the Next Genius Scholarship Program, visit www.next-genius.com .