The road to becoming a doctor for 2014 Tech High School graduate, Sruthi Shankar, has not been what she imagined. She’d been looking at colleges across the United States, always knowing she would attend medical school. However, that road changed in January of her senior year in high school.
“My dad took a job offer in California,” explains Shankar. “It was too good to pass up. It was very sudden and, as a family, we were not expecting the life change.”
The job was a contracted job, and there was no guarantee of permanence, so it didn’t make sense to uproot the entire family to California. Shankar’s family were immigrants from Singapore and knew the feeling of starting over.
With St. Cloud feeling like home, her father moved to California while the rest of her family stayed, and Shankar made the difficult decision to support her family and continue her post-high school education closer to home at St. Cloud State University (SCSU).
“I felt let down,” she admits, “but it was a rational decision for the family. I would save money on my undergraduate [degree] and then go farther away [to continue my education].”
As a top student at Tech, she earned 65 AP (advanced placement) credits, which landed her in 300-level courses at SCSU, which meant her classmates were juniors and seniors instead of freshmen. In addition, growing up in India and Singapore gave her limited exposure to college and little preparation for campus life. It was a shock to her system.
Part way through her first year, she had an epiphany.
“I realized that I should really make the best of time while I’m here,” recalls Shankar. “It’s when I took charge and started to do other things.”
Pursuing a degree in both biochemistry and biomedical science, she became a tutor and participated in summer programming. As a freshman, she also became a peer mentor for honors students. By 2018, she received SCSU’s Leadership in Excellence Award.
Much like her time at Tech, where teachers went out of there way to say hello and ensure that she was reaching her full potential, Shankar became close with her professors at SCSU.
“The professors are amazing,” she says. “They should probably be at Harvard but are here instead. They really care so much about students.”
Shankar recently graduated from SCSU with bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and biomedicine. She also gave the commencement speech at graduation.
She now looks to the future.
“I’ll be heading to the University of Minnesota next,” says Shankar. “It was an instant match. It has the same community support that is at SCSU. I’ve always thought about being a pediatrician or neonatologist, but now I’m thinking surgery, possibly neurosurgery.”
But Shankar’s goals don’t stop there. Five to 10 years down the road, she’s thinking of obtaining a dual degree from the University of Minnesota. She is considering a law degree as well.
She hopes to return to St. Cloud in the future.
“It would be awesome to work at the St. Cloud Hospital or CentraCare!” exclaims Shankar.
Even though the road she expected to take didn’t turn out to be the exact direction she anticipated, that fork in the road ultimately led her to where she wanted to be. And, the journey ahead could lead her right back to St. Cloud.
