According to a PME student at UChicago, the only pressure here is to do good science. Living at a foreign university

Anchita Addhya, a University of Chicago student, talks about how she went from coming from a lower middle-class household in Kolkata to following her love of literature and science. She talks about the interdisciplinary approach of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at UChicago and her research in ultrafast optics. She also provides guidance on how to take advantage of opportunities and manage funds while studying in the US.

From kindergarten until high school, I went to South Point High School in Kolkata, where I was raised in a lower middle-class household. Although my main interest was always science, I also had a strong love for literature and drawing. My academic path was significantly influenced by two of my high school teachers, who encouraged me to study physics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Kolkata. IISER is a research institute that focuses on basic sciences, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, computer science, and geology.