I am currently a PhD candidate in Biology, at Stanford University, California, USA. My thesis focuses on how global temperature changes would affect fish hearts. Growing up near the southern coastal shores of Galle, I never imagined I would be by the Pacific Ocean, studying marine animals. As a child when you are starting school, parents, teachers, relatives, and neighbours expect you to excel in academics. "Become a doctor, lawyer, accountant or an engineer!" are the words you hear with every ones blessings on the first day of school. These expectations do not change, even after you take your Advanced Level exams for the umpteenth time. Very few students are allowed to or able to overcome the weight of these expectations, and I definitely was not one of them. Not until I found a scholarship to study in India on a random piece of newspaper.
Off to India
In 1999, as I was preparing for my Advanced Level exams in the Biology stream at Richmond College, Galle, my father pointed to an advertisement for a program called United World College (UWC – www.uwc.org). Not knowing the meaning of what it was exactly, I applied. I later learned that UWCs are a unique group of schools that bring in students from all over the world to one place to complete the last two years of their high school. Their goal is to enable young people to become responsible citizens of the world through international education. The eleven UWCs are situated all over the world including Canada, Norway, England, South Africa, Hong Kong and India. Almost every country in the world has a national committee that represents the UWC organization. They are responsible for selecting students to represent respective countries for various UWCs. After being interviewed by the Sri Lankan national committee, I was selected to go to the UWC in India with a full scholarship. Amid my parents' reluctance and deviating from the social norm of studying to attend a Sri Lankan university, I headed off to India. I was treading in unknown waters to follow a diploma (International Baccalaureate Diploma) at a school that my parents or friends had never heard of. However, it transpired to be the best decision I have ever made. Those two years at UWC, among many other things, changed my perspective on higher education. I learned the importance of studying what I am passionate about.
Liberal arts education in the USA
Through the UWC education I developed broad interests and I did not want to be limited to one particular subject stream for my bachelors degree. That was when I met a representative from College of the Atlantic (COA), a small liberal arts college on the coast of Maine, USA. During our conversation, I learned that liberal arts colleges are a perfect platform, especially for international students to enter the US education stream. They are usually very small in size than state and private universities which allows students to receive individual attention from professors. Also most liberal arts colleges are residential, where students live on campus, thereby giving them the opportunity of not only learning in a class room, but from fellow students in a community setting through daily activities. This allows students to explore and experience a wide variety of cultural, political, and intellectual events that can shape their lives. Also liberal arts schools rarely require students to be restricted to one particular subject stream. It provides room for them to develop their intellectual curiosity in early college years.
This type of education suits a Sri Lankan student coming to the US for the first time. The community aspect of liberal arts colleges allows students to better assimilate themselves to the United States, particularly because most American students who attend these schools are very open minded and globally aware. Also there is an immense support system in place to develop not only students' academic interests but their personal character. It also might be a refreshing break from the fast paced, text book oriented education system in Sri Lanka and this aspect would let students hone their creativity and discover their passions.
COA is unique among liberal arts schools, in that all the students pursue only one major - a Bachelor of Arts in Human Ecology. Upon completion of my diploma in India, I was convinced that COA was the best institution I could attend to get an undergraduate education. I was fortunate to receive a full scholarship given to UWC graduates through Shelby Davis foundation.
Applying to COA was similar to any undergraduate institution in the US. However, later I learnt that they pay very little attention to standardized test scores as SATs or GPA (grade point averages). The admissions committee rather seems to focus more on the ability of a student to be independent and their potential to thrive in an environment that supports creativity rather than rigor. Given that I had received a full scholarship, obtaining a visa to the United States was relatively easy, although the visa officer wondered how a someone from a warm climate would survive cold winters in Maine. It indeed was a cause for concern as I had never seen snow in my life before. That coupled with living in an isolated island off the Atlantic coast was a particular worry for my parents. However, the wonderful community at COA and around the town, in addition to efforts by the school to maintain high spirits among students through many activities was very warming. All the international students were paired with a local family who were wonderfully hospitable and many became members of their respective host families. Maine quickly became home away from home for many international students.
COA has an extremely small student population with very high student to faculty ratio and one of the highest international student percentages in the US. Their curriculum was designed for students to gain as much hands on real life experience as possible.
I fully enjoyed this academic freedom and followed courses not only in Chemistry and Physics, but in graphic design, education and anthropology. Together with my favourite professors, I designed my own courses and self taught subjects that I found to be interesting. I also spent a year in the United Kingdom, at University of Edinburgh, Scotland, studying medicinal chemistry and pharmacology which was facilitated by the Davis Scholarship and COA.
United Kingdom
I headed to the UK in 2003. I found the education curriculum in the UK to be very similar to that of Sri Lanka and other mainstream education systems in the world. Courses were very structured and taught to large groups of students at once. There was very little academic freedom for students to explore outside the class room. I attempted to pursue an opportunity to work with a chemistry research lab. Although they were very accommodating, they appeared surprised by an undergraduate student wanting to conduct research in a lab. This seems to be the biggest difference in the UK and US education systems - students in American universities, particularly in liberal arts colleges, had a larger academic freedom. Although there was an industrial training component attached to undergraduate curriculum in the UK, it was rarely used as an exploratory tool, but mostly as a stepping stone for a job opportunity. Also the number of scholarships available for international students seemed very little compared to the US.
Back to COA - internships and senior project
After a year in the UK, I came back to COA to complete my fourth and final year of studies. COA curriculum requires students to do at least one internship and a senior project/thesis. As I was interested in the general realm of science, I pursued two internships and received several grants to do them. One of my internships was studying stress in marine crustaceans and it took me from Maine, USA, to as far as southern France. The other project was focusing on genetic basis for diabetes using a mouse model at a biomedical laboratory. For my senior thesis, I combined this project with a different component under the supervision of a Sri Lankan botany professor, Nishantha Rajakaruna, who is a faculty member at COA. With his help, I came back to Sri Lanka and did a review on traditional medicinal plants used to treat diabetes in Sri Lankan Ayurvedic medicine. Although I thoroughly enjoyed all these projects, aquatic life and doing research on peculiar creatures fascinated me more. Therefore after graduating from COA, I continued work on cellular stress experienced by marine organisms due to environmental effects as a research technician and then later as a PhD student.
Because of the academic freedom I had, as I was graduating from COA I had explored several avenues of interest and have gained enough experience to pursue different career options. I believe this is the most important aspect of an undergraduate education - to explore, experience and enjoy your interests. Even if a student is following a more structured and strict curriculum, there are plenty of opportunities available to pursue their curiosities. Even in the strictest academic institutions, there are loop holes that students can utilize to their advantage and gain experience in what they are curious about.
Applying to graduate school
After completing my bachelors degree at COA, I used my OPT (optional practical training - a work visa designed for international students to train in their field of interest in the United States) to gain more laboratory experience at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratories. I used this period to also prepare and strengthen my graduate school application. As I wanted to pursue a graduate degree in Biology, I quickly learned that there is very little scholarship funding for masters degrees and that a PhD would prepare me better to achieve my future goals - becoming a faculty member at a university.
I searched for a suitable PhD program based on research interests of different scientists by simply reading their papers and visiting their web pages. Once I had a list of professors with whom I was interested in pursuing a PhD with, I started contacting them - at times by sending multiple emails. Based on their response, it was relatively easy to decide which programs I should apply to. Before making the final decision to apply, I also contacted the respective departments and other graduate students to learn about their experience at those institutions.
In the mean time, I also prepared all the application materials including recommendation letters, statements of purpose and completed GRE general exams. The resource section under SL2College website provides a complete list of requirements one should focus on before applying to graduate school. It is imperative that every student writes a compelling statement of purpose that is unique to each program they are applying for. Also the recommendation letters are critical and students should develop a strong relationship with their undergraduate professors at an early stage to obtain perceptive letters.
After much preparation, I submitted six applications and was admitted to all the programs bearing one. Although it was difficult to choose one program, I decided to accept the offer from Stanford University simply because I knew I would be able to do what I appreciate the most - live by the ocean, studying its creatures.
SL2College would like to thank Nishad Jayasundara for sharing an account of his undergraduate experience to inspire other potential Sri Lankan students. Nishad is a product of Richmond College, Galle and received a scholarship to study in India at Mahindra United World College. In 2001, as a recipient of Davis Fellowship, Nishad started his undergraduate studies at College of the Atlantic, a small liberal arts college on the coast of Maine. Upon completing his degree, he moved westwards to join a PhD program at Stanford University, California. He is currently doing his thesis project focusing on temperature effects on cardiac physiology in fish species. For more information, visit http://www-marine.stanford.edu/profiles/fishhearts.htm
Date of publication in the Sunday Observer: July 31 and August 14, 2011 (in 2 parts).
This and other related articles are available on www.sl2college.org under the resources section. SL2College is a global community that provides FREE advice and guidance to Sri Lankan students. SL2College helps Sri Lankan students find relevant information to make informed decisions about their educational goals. Please post your queries on the forum at www.sl2college.org or email info@sl2college.org.
