Finding and Cultivating my Passions for Global Health at Barnard and Shot@Life

Growing up in Bangladesh, I witnessed the women of my neighborhood strain their shoulders carrying water in the scorching heat, often sustaining injuries on their way back home. After coming to the U.S., I saw that the global health discourse for water and sanitation didn’t account for women in the Global South. They are at a higher risk of gender violence in their journey to collect water, in addition to facing health issues from the lack of menstrual hygiene services. This experience instilled in me a passion for global health, where women in communities can lead programs and initiatives. 

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic came in 2020, devastating many communities across NYC and the globe. Soon, I realized the importance of pursuing global health, as a disease outbreak can travel from a remote village to major cities across six continents in as little as 36 hours, as per the CDC. 

After coming to Barnard College, I delved deeper into my global health interests through many courses. I took a course called Global Health, Politics, and Society, a seminar sociology course where I learned about a variety of topics such as HIV, tropical diseases, and political movements for access to care. As I sat across from talented Barnard and Columbia students, we dissected a different issue every week and presented on our topics of interest. The class was filled with diverse perspectives, from students going to medical schools to students interested in medical technology to students in medical anthropology. 

In 2025, I came across Shot@Life, a U.S. advocacy campaign under the global health pillar of the United Nations Foundation. It was truly a calling— to implement my global health coursework in advocacy work to ensure everyone in the world has access to lifesaving vaccines. As a College Ambassador from Barnard College for Shot@Life, I work alongside other college ambassadors across the U.S. to raise awareness about global vaccine inequity and advocate for U.S. government investment in global immunization programs. As an ambassador, I led presentations in my classes about Shot@Life’s work, encouraging my peers to sign petitions to support U.S. aid for global development efforts. It is always exciting to hear from my peers after classes about their eagerness to join programs like these and advocate for global health programs. My favorite part is creating social media content about vital global health issues, such as polio eradication, the need for U.S. funding for global health programs, and much more! Being able to contribute to making global health information more accessible and educating my peers about these initiatives has truly been an honor. 

Throughout my courses at Barnard, my professors encouraged me to leverage my platform and join efforts to push for positive change. As a woman of color, I hoped to bring my intersectional lens to global health campaigns. As a Barnard student, I was able to learn theoretical frameworks and received encouragement to translate these learnings into my current work with Shot@Life. Barnard courses and professors helped me realize that the strength of health advocacy lies in community empowerment. I will continue to advocate for women’s health and uplift women’s perspectives in decision-making processes in the global health sector— a true emblem of the Barnard ideals.