Student Snapshot: Sagun Sharma ’21

Sagun Sharma '21

It wasn’t easy to travel halfway around the world for college and adjust to a whole new way of life, but Sagun Sharma ’21 was up to the challenge. A double major in educational studies and psychology, Sharma has discovered a close circle of friends and mentors as a writing tutor, community advisor, student-worker and a Psi Chi, Kappa Delta Pi, Triota and Alpha Lambda Delta member. She's also earned numerous honors and awards while immersing herself in studies and projects that combine her passions for education and social justice and satisfy her curiosity for psychology. 

Hometown:

Solukhumbu, Nepal.

Majors:

Educational studies and psychology, with a minor in women’s, gender & sexuality studies.

Clubs and organizations:

Norman M. Eberly Multilingual Writing Center (tutor), Residence Life & Housing (community advisor), Center for Spirituality & Social Justice, Psi Chi, Kappa Delta Pi, Triota and Alpha Lambda Delta.

Honors/scholarships/awards:

George Shuman Jr. and Mary Louise D’olier Shuman Prize, Junior Sophister Award, Wilbur Harrington and Helen Burns Norcross Junior Prize in Psychology and Howard Lane Rubendall Senior Scholarship.

Favorite book:

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

Favorite place on campus:

Landis House.

Favorite professor:

Associate Professor of Psychology Sharon Kingston, through and through! She was my First-Year Seminar professor and is currently one of my academic advisors. I also have been working with her on one of her research projects, Improving Outcomes for Children Impacted by Caregiver Substance Use Disorder, since spring 2020. She is my biggest advocate at Dickinson and has had a hand in every single one of my achievements. Her unwavering support as my professor, mentor and friend will always mean the world to me.

Favorite Dining Hall food:

Lentils, protein nuggets and popcorn shrimp.

Favorite class/learning experience:

I really enjoyed BIOL 131 with Visiting Instructor in Biology Gene Wingert my first semester. One of our assignments was to collect insects, so I remember carrying my net and jar everywhere I went.

As a kid, I wanted to be . . .

. . .  an actor.

Best thing about my major:

The interdisciplinary nature of my majors and minor. That allows me to combine my passions for education and social justice with my curiosity for psychology.

Best thing about my Dickinson experience:  

Being able to meet and engage with so many different, amazing people from all around the world.

Little-known hobby/talent:

I can sometimes control my dreams!

 Most important thing I’ve learned so far:

I think the most important thing I’ve learned and realized recently is to slow down, take breaks and say “no.” This quote by Brenda Salgado from Adrienne Marie Brown’s book, Emergent Strategy, perfectly captures my learning: “Nature has taught me so much about moving with the seasons, that we need to honor times of harvest and times of rest. That the frenetic pace of doing, doing, doing, without being present with each other and the season we are in, what is happening around us, is unnatural and counter to life. So it has made me realize how important community ceremony and celebration is to our efforts to transform the world.”

Read more Student Snapshots. Learn more about Sharma's experience as an international student in "A Next-Level Global Education."

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Published March 10, 2021