I am Autondrila, from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and I recently graduated from UWC-USA. I will major in Chemistry and Biology at Lewis and Clark on the pre-med track. I have always been interested in the human brain and psychiatry, and as someone who is neurodivergent and from a place where mental health and autism are considered taboo topics, I want to spread awareness by learning about these things, working as a psychiatrist and researcher in Bangladesh, and destigmatize these important topics there. After completing my education, I want to do brain research regarding neurodivergence, as it is a branch of neuroscience that is not well researched. But my biggest aspiration from my time at Lewis & Clark is to have fun and be happy :)
I hope to learn research skills from the faculty at Lewis & Clark, gain academic and non-academic knowledge from my peers and professors, and make life-long connections and meaningful community engagement and social work.
One fun fact about me would be that I lived and went to school in Beijing, China for three years while my mom was working on her PhD there, and was fluent in Chinese, but now I have completely forgotten the language after not speaking it for around 15 years.
I grew up in two big cities, and although the small-town of Las Vegas grew on me and is one of my favorite places, I missed being in big cities where possibilities seem limitless. That first drew my eyes to Portland, and, talking to staff and students there I realized that I found the place where I would be happiest spending the next four years of my life, going from one inclusive and welcoming community to another.
The most enjoyable part of my UWC-USA experience was having the freedom to be whoever I want to be and knowing that I am loved and accepted. The celebration of differences at Lewis & Clark parallels UWC, which excites me immensely for this new chapter in my life.
I love to travel and eat, and I am very excited to make myself familiar with Portland, especially with the street food scene there.