Photo of Sneha Mahapatra

I am from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, a state in Eastern India – the only child of my parents, Bismaya and Priya. They both work for social and economic emancipation of the poor in Odisha. I studied in Bhubaneswar and Kolkata until matriculation and thereafter at UWC, Adriatic for 2 years. Playing the piano brings me peace and happiness. I also love meeting and interacting with people. Post UWC, I joined Wartburg College in Iowa, USA where I am currently in my 3rd year of undergraduate. During this period I have done a couple of internships in India to understand social and development issues better. I also did the SAS program last year which was an amazing experience as it exposed me to varied people and cultures. Even though I have met and befriended enough people from Pakistan during my UWC and SAS journeys to know that they are just like me, my home country has a very strained and tenuous relationship with her neighbor. This saddens me. I hope this course would enable me to understand conflict issues and resolution methods better.