Karthik Adapa is a MPH student in the Department of Health Policy Management. He is a Fulbright Master’s scholar and a member of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the premier civil service of India.
1. What made you choose UNC/NC when deciding on a program/place to study?
The strong foundations in understanding issues in public health and the opportunities to conduct research on a wide range of public health issues that Gillings School of Global Public Health provides, made me choose UNC.
- What is the most different thing you’ve seen or experienced since being here in comparison to your home country?
While the UNC campus is like a beautiful park, the distances between places are huge, and there’s hardly any public transportation outside Chapel Hill!
- What is something you wish you had known before moving here?
That ‘access’ would be the key adaptation issue along with culture and language. There are relatively less options for public transportation in the US compared to what I’m used to and that presents challenges such as accessing groceries, fresh food and health care facilities beyond the university campus.
- Where is a place in your home country that every tourist should visit and why?
Andaman and Nicobar islands, for its sparsely populated beaches that give way to an ocean brimming with interesting marine life and coral gardens.