The college question looms in the minds of students as their time in high school comes to an end. Yet, many students are left with unanswered questions about what will be expected of them during the next step of their lives. But what would it be like to have someone who knows the ins and outs of college programs? What would it be like to have a parent who works not only with the system but in it? Having a professor as a parent can help students set goals for themselves and their college experience, and their insight into academia can help their child find what path they should take to pursue their dreams.
“I would say that my father being a professor allowed my parents to set high standards for me academically,” Saanvi Kumar (11) said. “He also has really useful tips for me when it comes to academic writing.”
Both of Rishabh Sen’s (12) parents work at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). Sen’s father, Saunak Sen, works as a professor and Chief of Biostatistics, and his mother, Suheeta Roy, works as an assistant professor of Genetics and Genomics.
“My mom … her degree is pretty different from my dad’s, so even though they ended up working in a pretty similar field, in the end, they had different paths,” Sen said. “They’re able to give me more insight because they are different.”
Sen’s parents have been teaching for around 20 years, and their jobs expand into labs as well as various research programs. Their work has helped Sen to think through problems and find solutions for himself.
“[My Dad] is more number-oriented when it comes to how he explains things,” Sen said. “The way he teaches, at least in my experience, is he will make you figure it out; so, instead of showing you how to do it, he will ask probing questions to where you have to get to the solution.”
Because of Sen’s parent’s work at UTHSC and their experience with the programs and policies of various colleges, Sen is able to understand what certain colleges can offer him. Their insight has been able to guide Sen through what college would match his interests best.
“[My Dad] has more insight on the actual statistical departments in … a lot of the colleges because he works with a lot of these people so he’ll be able to tell me … ‘This place I know has a lot of funding where they can help,’” Sen said. “He’s pretty knowledgeable when it comes to colleges in general and how different fields work, since through statistics, he’s been exposed to a lot of other fields.”
Kumar’s father, Santosh Kumar, has taught for 17 years and has been with the University of Memphis (UofM) since 2006. His research focuses on mobile health or mHealth, and he heads several large multidisciplinary projects at the UofM.
“My dad really loves learning, so I think he wanted to keep learning himself while helping students grow,” Kumar said. “It’s also a position where he can create new technologies, which is something he really enjoys.”
Although Kumar does not wish to be a professor like her father, his career has connected Kumar to topics she has an interest in pursuing as a career. Seeing her father work with subjects such as mental health has allowed Kumar to witness subjects that interest her firsthand.
“I don’t think I would want to be a professor, but our interests do align a bit,” Kumar said. “My dad is a computer scientist, but he does a lot of projects with mental health and I want to be a psychiatrist in the future.”
By making connections early on to their parents and their work, both Sen and Kumar have been able to understand themselves and their interests early on. Having access to someone connected with the college scene can be beneficial in not only finding the right path in college but also through it.
“[My parents] definitely give me a lot more insight into academia as a field,” Sen said. “[They have] helped a lot when it comes to choosing schools and just giving me more knowledge … in general.”
