Washington and Lee University
Hometown: Madras, India and Princeton Junction, N.J.
Major: Chemistry
Extracurricular Involvement:
Off-Campus/Internship Experiences:
Favorite W&L Memory: My sorority (Pi Beta Phi)'s spring formal was held at the Liberty Ruins, with my favorite college band, Snackbar Jones, performing. It was amazing to be surrounded by my friends, dancing under the stars.
Favorite W&L Activity: The Volunteer Venture pre-orientation program which I participated in as a freshman, and then was involved with in a leadership capacity. It is a great program, and I am still friends with everyone who I met from that first week, even before Orientation week.
Favorite Campus Landmark: The Great Hall in the Science Center is beautiful, and always makes me feel at home. I love that the Science Center once used to be two different buildings.
I had always thought that the size of Washington and Lee was a double-edged sword--the individual attention from professors set W&L apart from other schools, but at the same time, there weren't enough resources to offer all the classes students want to take. After my experience with developing my own class, I have nothing but praise for the perfect size of the undergraduate population.
The summer after my first year at Washington and Lee, I researched with physics professor Irina Mazilu and mathematics professor Brendan Weickert on ‘the application of the Bethe Ansantz method to the Asymetrical Simple Exclusion Process model’ (basically, modeling the behavior of particles). It was complex material, especially for a freshman with limited academic experience. The work was an introduction to the world of theoretical physics, and as intimidating the material was, it was also fascinating. As I started reading more articles about modern physics and the theories being developed, one particular hot topic caught my eye--string theory.
On the cutting edge of modern physics theory, string theory is a theoretical model for the way our world works. It was quickly garnering a lot of attention, both positive and negative, from prominent scientists and mathematicians from all over the world—and now me. As a member of the University Scholars program, I was always on the lookout for new and exciting topics for classes. I approached Professors Mazilu and Weickert with just a basic idea for a seminar-type course for the upcoming school year, and the class just took a life of its own. The three of us researched the subject thoroughly, and tried to come up with an outline for the form of the class.
After putting a syllabus together and getting approval from the administration, the course was officially titled "University Scholars 202: String Theory and Philosophy." I was expecting a handful of people to sign up for it, mostly the friends I had recruited. To my pleasant surprise, the course had a high pre-registration count—mainly students I didn't really know. The thirteen of us taking the class (including the professors) worked through the material together, bringing in articles we found relevant and drawing from a variety of backgrounds (philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, history) to create by far my favorite class at Washington and Lee. The atmosphere was perfect for engendering discussion, and I would leave every day with more questions than I had started with. To me, that's the mark of a truly thought-provoking class.
Not only did the class epitomize the University Scholars program, it epitomizes Washington and Lee itself. To be talking Kant and Einstein in the same breath is the essence of a liberal arts education. The support and encouragement I received from the administration and academic departments at W&L allowed me to see this idea to completion, and I am astonished by easy it was to get this class of the ground. Hopefully, my idea for a class on Harry Potter will be met with the same enthusiasm, but that might be pushing my luck.
