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Swapna - A Rare Desi Graduate

Recently I came across Swapna, a graduate student at The University of Iowa. After talking to her for a while what I came to know is that she is not a regular desi graduate, who you expect to be majoring in either some engineering/medical related disciplines. She is pursuing her master’s in Special Education for Children with Learning Disabilities and Behavior disorders.

After learning this, my first feeling was - 'this is unbelievable', b'cos I have not seen anybody from India pursuing Masters in this field out of passion. After that, I communicated for a while and decided to do a write up on her and persuaded her for an interview. Here are the excerpts of the email interview with this highly articulate yet humble woman:

Q: Why are you pursuing Special Education for Kids and Why Masters In Special Education? What caught your Interest to study this field?

A: Well, I always wanted to get into an exceptional field. Of course didn't have a special orientation that it would be in the field of special education but always wanted to work with children. And when I came across this course I got really interested in it. And as I got involved in my coursework I enjoyed it more and wanted to become an expert in it.
And why Master's? Well, I do hold a diploma in special Education and also have certification in working with multiple disabilities. But somehow I felt I need to master it. As I was already a graduate I wanted some thing at the post graduate level. But there aren't any courses as of my knowledge which offers anything in Special Education. I had to do my BEd and then had to go on for my MEd. But I didn't want to waste my time as felt I already had the experience which a graduate in education would have. Moreover wanted to get acquainted with the best Education possible.

Of course, While working for Swayamkrushi an institute working for the self’ reliance of the mentally challenged I was inspired by the knowledge the director of the institute had. As she had pursued a course abroad, she had become an expert in dealing with the subject. I wanted to be an expert too. Thus aspired for higher studies.
And now why learning disabilities? Hmm this is an optional question which you didn't ask me but would like to answer it. Well, the children with learning disabilities are the ones who have the potential but due to some problems they never reach their potential. Moreover there are very few schools in our country which cater to their needs. Hence I thought it was good for me to get into the field of learning disabilities as I have more reasons and more avenues to get into.

Moreover if bestowed with all the adaptive techniques and the best instruction kids with learning disabilities can become more independent. This is of course very important for the society as a whole. Making more and more individuals independent reduces the burden on the society. Moreover why not help the ones who can make a difference? That’s how I went about it.

Q: How long have you been involved in this field and what did you do until now?

A: Well, I have worked in a special school since 1998 even before completing my undergrad. As most of my friends and the ones in this field suggested I get into it as early as possible. Moreover more experience is required than bookish knowledge . So I decided to work at an early age. Meanwhile I completed my undergrad in commerce from Osmania, had the opportunity to do a certificate course from the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy. And then did my master's in psychology from Annamalai University. So with a work experience of five years and enough credentials I wanted to try for higher education. Was very reluctant as I was not sure if I could make it but I got admitted into the Special Education program at the University of Iowa.

Q: Now comes the regular question, How supportive was your family?

A: Well, how supportive was my family? Indeed very very supportive. In fact it would be impossible for me to make it to the US without the blessings and well wishes of my parents relatives and friends. They supported me financially and emotionally. But it did take a while to convince them that I was working on something which made sense. Well, at least in India, most parents wouldn’t appreciate if their child start working when she is supposed to study and go to college. So there was a hostile environment at home. But my sister (Sudha) and my cousin (Venugopal) supported me. My friends especially Vasupradha gave me more emotional strength. Of course God showered me with his blessings. And then when I continued my studies while working, I could convince my parents that I still like to study and want to enhance my knowledge. As time passed by and as I kept balancing my work with my studies my parents became more and more confident about me.
However, it was a surprise and close to a shock when I told them of my plans to go to the US for higher studies. But though they were reluctant, they saw me struggle, and then wanted to help me. Thus not only my parents but my grandma, (who always bothered about getting me married. She would say "You see it is difficult to find a guy as educated as you!") my aunt and uncle (Madhavi pinni and Ramesh babai) helped me realize my dream of making it to the US of A.
On the whole I should say that my family has been very supportive. They now believe that I can make a difference and do something great to make our family proud( Well, now I am burdened with a lot of responsibility)
Persistence pays off:).

Q: What are your future plans? Do you have plans for working on regular education in India as such?

A: Well, I don’t want to plan ahead cos I believe that as time passes by and as I get exposed to new avenues, I would be able to decide what is good for me. However one thing is for sure, I would like to make commendable contribution in the field of education. May be by starting an institute which fosters future educators with the best tools of instruction using a very democratic and practical approach. Would like to influence the Indian Education system and modify it for tapping in the best potential of all the students. Improve the educational conditions, improve the literacy rate and work on reforming or rather radically changing the government schools in India and make education cheapest and affordable to anyone and everyone.

Yeah, so basically I would like to contribute to special education and more to the field of learning disabilities and then adapt these techniques for the general population. As special education means "specially designed instruction to meet the needs of an individual (Hallahan and Kauffman)" the designed instruction would be immensely helpful in improving the educational conditions of the individuals with average intelligence too.

Q: Are you interested in blogging?

Well, she was reluctant at first to do this stuff, but finally I persuaded her to do blogging by explaining various benefits that it would bring. But I luv to read through the blogs. Yes, of course I have started to lie blogging.

So fellow bloggers and readers, Visit her blog @ Spoorthi and give this passionate lady more inspiration and support her in realizing her cause and welcome her with a big applause into our fascinating world of blogging.

She describes her self in her own words: Maverick? Of course not. Just taking the different route; The less traveled one!