Honors student’s academic development tied to personal interests in art, mentorship

Researcher. Mentor. Artist. These are aspects of Sivani Badrivenkata’s identity that, thanks in part to the University Honors Program, she’s felt encouraged to explore and develop.

“One of my favorite things about the honors program is how students can have their profession — their ‘thing,’ if you will — yet have other interests they want to engage in, and the program really promotes that,” says Badrivenkata, a senior in KU’s School of Pharmacy. 

Initially unsure of what she wanted to study — Badrivenkata had early aspirations of becoming a high school math teacher — she landed on pharmacy. 

“It wasn’t love at first sight,” Badrivenkata says, “but what I really fell in love with was the research aspect of the program.” 

This love of research inspired Badrivenkata to seek out such opportunities early on in her undergraduate career. She credits the Honors Weekly, an e-newsletter for students highlighting activities of interest, with helping her discover a summer internship founded by honors alumnus Dr. Ronald Chen with KU Medical Center’s Department of Radiation Oncology. 

The internship allowed her to hone her skills as a young researcher and solidified in Badrivenkata’s mind the importance of alumni connections. 

“These opportunities act as stepping stones to the connections and projects you’ll build in the future,” she says. 

Another stepping stone emerged, again in the Honors Weekly: a call for student submissions of visual art pieces to be displayed in the Kansas Union Gallery. Badrivenkata, mostly considering her artwork a hobby, submitted some pieces on a whim, which were accepted and put on display. 

Badrivenkata’s “Pond,” a work of acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy Sivani Badrivenkata

Indulging her artistic side has translated into Badrivenkata’s approach to her lab research. 

“I’m more of a sensorial researcher,” Badrivenkata says. “That doesn’t make me better or worse than my counterparts, but being in touch with my creative, qualitative side helps me to be more of an effective communicator, especially with patients.”  

Badrivenkata employed those communications skills in the honors program, both as an ambassador and an assistant for Dr. Katie Batza’s “Pandemics of Inequality” first-year honors seminar. The latter brought a long-held interest back to the forefront of her mind.  

“I’ve always loved teaching, and being a seminar assistant reaffirmed my interest in being a mentor,” she said. 

Badrivenkata hopes to further develop her mentoring skills as she completes a Doctor of Pharmacy at KU. While she works toward her goal of being a college professor, she recognizes the importance of non-academic pursuits. 

“You bring a unique voice to your discipline based on the things you do outside of it,” Badrivenkata says. “More than I realized before, the work I’ve done beyond my research has been just as important in building my future career goals.”

Developing her own voice as a researcher, a mentor, and even an artist can be traced back to advice received from the honors program during Badrivenkata’s first semester at KU.

“Be curious and open to anything,” she says, “and you’ll end up in places you probably never knew existed.”