Dr. Nisarg Chhaya

Hello, Amanda here,

It was my good fortune to interview my fellow Colleague, Nisarg. While I chatted with Nisarg and learned more about him, he casually ate a raspberry yogurt from the University cafe and addressed each question with poise and grace. To be honest, Nisarg was one of the tour guides I knew the least well at the Visitors Center but after our half hour interview I feel that I really have learned a lot about him.

First we started with his background. Nisarg grew up much differently than I did as he wasn’t born in the United States. He lived in Gujarat, India until he was five years old when his family moved to America. An early experience that had shaped his life is incredibly surprising. He told me a story about how he almost died when he was five years old. Nisarg was trying to get a bike and while doing so, a bookshelf completely fell on top of him. The doctor said that had the bookshelf hit him any lower on the head, Nisarg would have been paralyzed! To this day there is still a portion of his head that doesn’t grow hair as a result of his accident. I also learned that Nisarg fell out of a moving car….but that’s a different story!

After leaving India, Nisarg, his parents and his younger sister moved to Massachusetts where he lived until he came to UConn as a freshman. While Nisarg originally looked at private schools, he ended up choosing UConn because of our awesome Physio-Neuro Biology program and the scholarships he was offered.  Because Nisarg came in with a lot of Advanced Placement credits he wanted challenging coursework his first year. He was also slightly taken aback by the size of our school and it took him a little while to adjust. Getting involved in research opportunities really helped him though because it gave him direction and is where he found his niche.

I learned that Nisarg is very neat just like me! He loves to clean and doesn’t like things to be out of place which is exactly how I feel! When I asked Nisarg what the top two foods where that he had to have in his room, he said Banana Wafers (a yummy Indian snack) and BBQ Fritos (which made me laugh). Nisarg is currently residing in Connecticut Commons and enjoys his single. He said that for his senior year he hopes to live in Hilltop Apartments!

At the end of our interview we talked a little bit on his future. Nisarg is planning on going to medical school and while he ponders studying in Las Vegas, Nisarg thinks he will probably study in Massachusetts (Harvard?). In the beginning Nisarg was looking at studying cancer research but he has recently become interested in studying cardiology. I think my favorite part of our talk was when Nisarg talked about his goals for this year. He set two goals for himself, the first being learning how to relax and taking some time for himself. The second was part of his UConn bucket list and it was to play Oozeball.

I really enjoyed talking with Nisarg and getting to know him better. I had a lot of fun learning about his background and careers aspirations Also I thought his hat was pretty much the most awesome hat ever!