Bharathi Selvan pursues other passions while pre-med

Bharathi Selvan started her Rice career with an open mind, but quickly found her niche in sociology.

“I took Intro to Sociology and became really interested in the topics that were covered,” she said. “I think when you’re in high school, you don’t know what sociology or a lot of the majors we have at Rice actually mean in practice, and so being able to take that introduction course really allowed me to see what sociology looks like. That was what sparked my interest.” 

It’s a unique turn for the pre-med student who thought there was only one way to medical school.  

 “I came in thinking you needed to be a natural science major to be pre-med to pursue medicine, and that you had to do these traditional things like basic science research or clinical volunteering, but now I just completed my thesis related to housing,” Selvan said. “It’s been awesome to be able to pursue things not directly related to my pre-professional track and to cultivate those passions, even by things like joining an a cappella group.” 

That group, Basmati Beats, is a South Asian fusion team that has been one of the highlights of her time at Rice.

“I’m really lucky to be at a place like Rice where they encourage you to pursue your outside passions,” she said.