Shreya Reshamwala

What’ve you enjoyed most about your area of study? Was there a particular discovery, new skill or way of thinking, or insight that you found especially valuable? Please share an example from your favorite class or experience.

For a long time, I’ve always been passionate about languages—they are a gateway into other cultures, values, and insights that enrich my own understanding of the world. After taking a few cultural classes, I developed a deeper appreciation of a culture that was different to my own background in so many ways. A particularly memorable cultural class that I’ve taken was a German film class where we watched several curated films that defined German cinema over the past century. Watching the films in German felt like a portal into German culture, absorbing and understanding cultural norms and attitudes subconsciously scene through scene. The power of empathizing with those from different backgrounds cannot be understated, and I’m grateful that the German program gave me several opportunities to get to know another culture more deeply.

How does the knowledge from this field, or your interest in it, combine with your other major or minor studies at MIT?

At the beginning, I chose German as lots of tech startups and technical spheres in Europe are based in German-speaking countries. German and American entrepreneurs and mathematicians share several common interests, and so having a German academic background is very useful should I ever work with companies from or move to a German-speaking country.

An MIT education includes study in the scientific, technical, social science, arts, and humanities fields. How do you think that wide range of knowledge and perspectives will be valuable to you – for your career success and for your enjoyment of life?

Being at MIT has satiated my intellectual curiosity on several frontiers—my technical passions that brought me here, but also looking at the world through different, more refined perspectives. I can say with confidence that MIT has whetted my curiosity for knowledge and understanding around the world; being at this wonderful, well-rounded institution has transformed the way I look at myself and others. It has strengthened my ability to empathize with other perspectives and to seek truth through the facts. I could never have dreamed of the opportunities that MIT has presented to me over the years, and now, I feel more “whole” having experienced different cultures, backgrounds, and intellectual curiosities that I will continue to explore after leaving this special place.

What are your plans for the future?

Right after graduation, I plan on working in New York, NY as a software engineer. However, I do have a strong interest in entrepreneurship and so I want to work in the climate tech startup space.