Krysta Walia
About
Krysta Walia is a recipient of the Summer 2015 and Academic Year 2015-2016 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. The award provides undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students with financial support to develop fluency in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) and expertise in the regions in which these languages are spoken. Every year the Center for Global Studies awards between 12-15 fellowships to UW students. Click here to learn more.
Since receiving the FLAS award, I have been able to further my educational endeavors as a current MA student in the South Asian studies program within the Jackson School of International Studies. In June 2015, I graduated with a Masters of Social Work from the University of Washington with a focus on examining and learning about Sikh, Punjabi, and South Asian populations both in the US and globally. Following graduation, the summer FLAS fellowship supported me in studying intermediate Hindi in Jaipur, India through the American Institute for Indian Studies. The academic year fellowship for 2015-2016 has given me the opportunity to deepen my focus, passion, and research throughout my current MA program, in which I hope to bridge the gap that I see between current social services and South Asian populations. I envision myself as a social services practitioner in a multi-faceted, community based, social service agency or working within a community college setting in the future.