GSPotlight Series
Interview with GSP Alumna Krishna Sharma (COL ‘16)
By Lisa Kennedy (COL ‘25), GSP Student Board Member
Krishna Sharma earned her bachelor’s from the Georgetown University College of Arts and Science in 2016. After completing her undergraduate degree, she worked for three years as a medical assistant, tutor, and employee at a start-up before applying to medical school. She is currently a third year M.D. candidate at the Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Krishna was born in Nepal to a large family – five sisters and a brother. Quickly recognizing the relative lack of educational opportunity for women and girls in her hometown, Krishna moved to the capital city of Kathmandu at the age of ten to attend school. She was determined to continue her education by any means necessary. While in high school, she discovered an opportunity to participate in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program in the United Kingdom. She then completed the two year program along with four friends from Nepal and many other international students. Her success in academics allowed her to be admitted to Georgetown University. Despite having never visited Georgetown or the United States, Krishna made the brave decision to attend Georgetown, where she would be a member of the Georgetown Scholars Program (GSP).
As she recalls, Krishna’s fond memories of Georgetown and GSP begin as early as the first day she arrived in Washington, D.C. After completing nearly forty hours of travel, directors of the then-School of Nursing and Health Studies happily welcomed her and provided transportation to campus. When she arrived on campus, her GSP peer mentor had compiled a care package of bedding, toiletries, and other necessities. As Krishna describes, her mentor “became a very close friend. I thought of her as a sister.” Her interaction with GSP didn’t stop there. She attended programming, including the LOFT event, in which GSP students were able to select and bring home new professional attire free-of-charge. She applied for the Necessity Grant, which would cover her international phone call/text costs, enabling her to stay in touch with her family. Though she initially found it hard to ask for financial help, Krishna felt that “GSP and the Necessity Fund were always there. The worst thing they could say was no, but that hardly ever happened.”
Krishna’s time at Georgetown was deeply shaped by her personal and professional relationships. Her connection to GSP was just one element of her extensive “network of support.” As an undergraduate pre-med student, she built this network of individuals who saw and eventually helped her realize her dream of attending medical school. These individuals, among them Dean of Financial Aid Patricia McWade and English professor Monica Maxwell, helped keep her dream alive in spite of the many struggles associated with being a first-generation, low-income, and international student. Looking back, Krishna says “so many hands came together to get me here, and I’m so grateful.”
When asked to provide current GSP students interested in pursuing a career in medicine with advice, Krishna reminds students:
“Everybody has their own story. You didn’t get here on the same path as them – so why does your story have to be the same as theirs going forward?[…]Ask for help and make time for your own dreams. If you don’t, you’ll be left wondering ‘what if?’”