Being a daughter of doctor parents, Shivangi’s decision to pursue Humanities wasn’t much welcomed by her parents. But she worked hard and proved her mettle by getting a Fulbright Scholarship and by proving that someone can do something extraordinary in Humanities too.

Shivangi Nathawat hails from Jaipur. She did a BA and an MA in English Literature from ICG College, Jaipur.

Shivangi shares that both her parents were doctors and they wanted her to become one too. However, by the time she completed her tenth grade, she was sure that she wanted to become anything but a doctor. In high school, she opted for the Commerce stream. She also tried her hand at cracking the law entrance examination as she wanted to pursue Law. As luck would have it, she could not pass the exam and hence she decided to pursue a BA in English Literature. She says after completing her bachelors, she went to Mumbai to pursue an MA in English Literature from Mithibai College there. But soon she had to move back to Jaipur as she didn’t quite like it there in Mumbai. Then she completed her masters from ICG College in Jaipur itself.

Soon after completing her masters, Shivangi joined the education field. She started working as an Assistant Professor. Later, she applied for a Fulbright Scholarship and was awarded it. And finally, she could make her father proud of her after a long time, she says.

Talking about her professional journey, Shivangi says that during her masters she worked with The Wire as an intern where her work primarily involved translating news articles from Hindi to English. Besides, she worked in the event management industry. Further, she tried teaching children but soon realized that teaching school kids wasn’t her cup of tea. She also worked in academia as an assistant professor of English Literature. Currently, she is a Fulbright scholar at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, the USA where she teaches the Hindi language.

To aspiring scholars of English Literature, Shivangi tells them that English Literature is much more than the English that’s taught in high school. Therefore, she advises them to develop a knack for reading and writing English texts.

Talking about her achievements, Shivangi says that getting a Fulbright scholarship is her biggest accomplishment to date. Besides, being able to break the glass ceiling with her other accomplishments is also an achievement for her.

Talking about her mistakes, Shivangi says that she often cared about what others thought of her, which was her biggest mistake.

Shivangi says that her sisters have always been her inspirations and support systems. Besides, she says that her friends have always been her go-to persons.

Shivangi advises youngsters to have an aim in life from the beginning itself and work hard to achieve it.

Shivangi feels that Psychology ought to be made a mandatory subject in high school. She says that mental health is an issue that should be addressed and children should be taught about it early on in life.

In her spare time, Shivangi likes to speak with her relatives over the phone. Besides, she also likes to go on a walk or spend time with her friends in her free time.