Student Profile Aasthaa

Sustainability around the globe

Born in India and raised in Thailand, Aasthaa was drawn to U of T because of its strong international reputation, ranked #1 in the world for sustainability. Through courses like “Earth History,” “Principles of Climatology” and “Research for Students in the Physical Sciences,” she developed her knowledge of the physical world as well as her writing and research skills. Using what she’s learned, she hopes to set up her own business or NGO related to climate risk analysis, examining how we can reduce carbon emissions of corporate companies to deter the effects of climate change.

Cultivating community and culture

When she's not studying weather patterns and soil types, you can find Aasthaa working in the Student Recruitment Office for her work-study position, fulfilling her duties as the VP of Academics for the Environmental and Physical Science Student Association (EPSSA), serving as the VP of Marketing for Regenesis Scarborough, a sustainability group, or dancing on U of T Jhalak, a dance team specializing in South Asian dance forms. She's gained valuable friendships and met people with shared cultural backgrounds through these experiences. 

Settling in as an international student  

Coming from Thailand, Aasthaa had to adjust not only to university life, but also to academia in a different country. Having grown up with a British curriculum, she was used to being given a timetable, for example, and never had to pick her own classes until arriving at U of T. To overcome challenges like these, she booked appointments with the academic advising team and visited the career centre. She says these were invaluable supports for her, as advisors would help her figure out what courses she needed to take, talked her through building a degree, showed her how to add and drop courses and introduced her to resources like Degree Explorer to plan out her degree. She says these sessions, in addition to the support of upper year students in clubs, helped her feel less lost as a first year international student.