Dr Sujata Kelkar Shetty, Biological scientist and author, LGB 1993
Dr Sujata Kelkar Shetty
La Grande Boissière, 1993
Scientist and author
India
Find out more about me:
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Books:
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Resilience Decoded: What every parent needs to know about teen mental health
My experience at Ecolint informed my worldview in a profound and meaningful way. Intercultural understanding was absorbed by osmosis, just by being at school every day. The school's rigorous academic approach, coupled with its inclusive bonhomie made it an unusually effective and fun place of learning.
I graduated in 1993 and had the privilege of experiencing the LGB campus. The campus was quite different those days. Fewer buildings and more open spaces!
I live in Bangalore, India, with my sons Akash and Aarav, my husband Nitesh and our three retrievers Google, Brad and Bella. I am the author of two Penguin Random House-published books and have a couple in the pipeline. I am a US-trained clinical research scientist who did her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. For the last two decades, I have been writing evidence-based books and columns that share cutting-edge research on health and well-being. I am also a resilience trainer and life coach who has had the good fortune of having worked with companies like TCS, Infosys, PWC and EnY. Both my books, "99 not out! Your guide to a long and healthy life" and "Resilience Decoded: What every parent needs to know about teen mental health" are available on Amazon.
The best memories of Ecolint are from the happy times spent in the Cafeteria. We were friends from a dozen countries on a stretch of tables who would sit together for lunch every day and natter. We would come back to the table in between classes and catch up as well. We would hang out at the Amphitheatre too when it was sunny. Cheeky, happy, fun-filled memories!
My experience at Ecolint informed my worldview in a profound and meaningful way. Intercultural understanding was absorbed by osmosis, just by being at school every day. The school's rigorous academic approach, coupled with its inclusive bonhomie made it an unusually effective and fun place of learning. What I learnt at Ecolint was useful through my college years and beyond. Getting the IB at Ecolint prepared me for undergraduate studies in a way that I hadn't anticipated till I got to college. Because I had learnt to think critically and write effectively thanks to the incredible teachers at Ecolint I was ahead of my peers in my first couple of years of college, and this gave me a comfortable cushion of time to settle into life as a college student.
If I had it to do all over again, would have learnt to ski and worked harder on my French. Learning the first and refreshing the second as an adult is a lot more challenging!!
My words of wisdom for Ecolint students: Enjoy your time as a student. Your brain's capacity for learning is at its absolute peak during your school years. Your brain is like a sponge. So learn learn, learn from your friends and peers while you study with your teachers in the classroom. Enjoy the city of Geneva. I visited in 2024 for Ecolint's centenary celebrations and saw that so much was still the same. This was nice to experience particularly when you visit from a city like Bangalore where the pace of change is incredibly fast.
My legacy: I believe that we hold our destiny in our hands and hearts. I would like to leave a legacy of kindness. Compassionate acts, no matter how small, contribute to the grandeur of humanity. Let us all strive to leave footprints of kindness, so that when we depart, the world is forever transformed by the impressions we leave.