From Rickshaws to Sky Blue Buses

Photo by Rich Fowler

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 driver’s legs.

“The buses here are less convenient than the rickshaws, and they can be very confusing,” Shweta said. “Thankfully, I’m 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
friends, including her high school sweetheart, bid her farewell, knowing it would be a long time before they could see her again.

“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, Shweta’s 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.

Shweta’s 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.

Shweta’s 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, Shweta’s international perspective and unending curiosity help other students gain insights they may have otherwise missed,” Duncan said. “We’re very happy that Shweta is in our program here in the School of Social Work at Carolina.”

- Tania E. Zeigler

 

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