Hello! My name is Parini Mehta and I am a Global Scholar at Florida State University. Global Scholars is a program in which FSU facilitates undergraduate student research around the world to promote impactful global engagement in the student body. This summer, for my global scholars experience, I plan to go to India for 2 months to research the effects that the Indian government has on equitable education as well as its quality and accessibility.
From my perspective, the program not only sponsors curiosity and important research, but also gives students the opportunity to learn skills and gain perspective outside of the classroom. In order to completely represent the qualities of a Global Scholar, I plan to approach my research with humility. A large aspect of research as a whole is ethics, especially when engaging with a community that is seen as unorthodox in the sphere of influence a researcher has come from. In order to truly understand and represent a community, I believe that taking an open-minded approach and truly learning about why society operates in the fashion it does, can aid my research in terms of both ethics and impact. As a global scholar, it is my duty to promote not only knowledge of a foreign concept, but the accurate perspective of the impacted community.
In India, I plan to work at a non-profit that promotes equitable access to quality education in the state of Gujarat. Alongside my work there, I plan on interviewing a diverse range of individuals with deeper understandings of the system as well as its effects on the youth of India. However, anticipating hardship is an integral part of the research process, as unforeseen circumstances can heavily impact the research at hand. For my Global Scholars research, I expect to run into issues concerning peoples availibility and comfortability in terms of interviews. I also expect to run into a slight language barrier, because as I completely understand the language, my speaking skills are lackluster. To combat the language obstacle, I have been practicing Gujurati and using it more frequently in my everyday life. Furthermore, I plan on scheduling interviews ahead of time and sending the questions to the interviewee before the actual interview. I also will make it clear to the interviewee that I am striving to conduct research in the most ethical manner and ensure a goal for a positive impact. This will help establish comfortability as well as ensure that the meetings will take place.
I chose to investigate India due to my past experiences in the country. I am ethnically Indian and my exposure to the culture from the eurocentric lense I grew up around has inspired a passion in me for learning about different people and different societies. Due to my cultural background, I will be able to engage with the local community in a more inter-personal manner. In pursuing a research question, I wanted to explore the legal or governmental sphere as I plan on becoming a lawyer for my career and wanted to learn about the systems in an international context. Furthermore, I have witnessed the gap in education between privileged members of Indian society and the less fortunate. I hope that my research can serve as a reminder of the duality of life and the importance of a harmonious society.
Overall, I am incredibly excited to meet new people, learn new things, and generate a positive impact on a community.
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