Full Name: Baibhav Sharma
Nickname? B
Class Year: 2021
Major? Physics
Where are you from? Guwahati, India
Where are you right now? At Colgate
Story Time: I found a sense of community in a place I really wasn't expecting to find one. After my first semester and spending the first winter here, I falsely concluded I will always be a lonely outlier at Colgate. However, I was quickly proved wrong when I found friends while waiting for the fire alarm to stop blaring during a cold night outside East Hall. I found friends in the physics department, at the gym. I found mentors who changed my life for the better. I was wrong, I have a great group of friends and mentors with immense intellectual diversity. And they have helped me morph into someone closer to who I want to be.
How are you spending your time in quarantine? Although I miss my friends a lot, I do have a couple of my good friends who I can spend time with and I am quite privileged and fortunate to have them around. I chat with English Professor and my physics research and major advisor frequently. I have been talking to my family. And I am basically riffing on the idea of social connections in this age of physical distancing. I am closer to a lot of people than I have ever been. Kanopy has been a great company (thank you Colgate). I have watched a lot of the movies in the Criterion Collection. But favorite way to spend time has to be reading various books and putting out 700-1000 words on my own everyday. Balancing scientific exploration and my creative endeavors has never been more fulfilling.
What do you miss most about Colgate? Ho 103. The coffee machine there, and my friends who would hang out there. And working in Ho 107 (I miss you Kiko).
Favorite place on campus? Ho 103
Hopes, dreams, goals for the future? Hoping to get into a PhD program in biomedical sciences (particularly molecular biophysics). Haven't really decided what to do after my PhD. But I do want to retire at the age of 57 and dedicate the rest of my life to creative writing.
The best piece of advice you ever received? Can't really pin down on one. But I remember the first time I talked to Kiko aka Prof. Galvez and I remember him telling me to keep my horizons open. I came to Colgate hoping to be a physics and math double major. I found my FSEM too interesting so I minored in philosophy My advisor left so did my will to minor in it. Still hoping to complete in minor in English thanks to the fantastic Prof. Coyle. Looking back, had I not edged out of my comfort zone,, I wouldn't have found the activities I enjoy the most. "Keep your options open and clear" - Kiko, best piece of advice I ever received. Made me get the best out of a liberal arts education.
Social Media Handles? (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) Twitter: @baibhavtp97, Instagram: sharmabaibhav