17 | Giving up Mechanical Engineering to Become a Historian & Curator at The Smithsonian - with Abeer Saha

Abeer Saha | Art Curator, Smithsonian

Abeer enrolled at The University of Virginia with a focus on Mechanical Engineering. However, after graduation, he realised that his heart wasn’t really in it. This prompted him to make the switch to studying Environmental History. He is currently completing his PhD and working as a curator at the Smithsonian.

Abeer shares his journey through UVA and beyond with Arjun, describing the transition between fields, and even diving into his personal journey with yoga and spiritual practice.

Episode Takeaways

Transition to UVA

UVA exceeded his expectations since it was his first trip to the US and he hadn’t known what to expect. The best decision he made was to stay in a regular undergrad dorm as opposed to special international dorms, giving him a chance to interact with regular Americans. He had signed up for Mechanical Engineering and it wasn't exactly what he had expected. There was a lot of book learning. The hands-on learning with circuits and motors was reserved for the last year of the major and he was disappointed with not getting that experience in the early years. He, however, enjoyed taking classes in different non-engineering fields such as oceanography, philosophy, religion, economics etc.

Transition to Grad School

He is currently doing a PhD in Environmental History. It started with his liberal arts courses during his engineering undergrad. He decided to finish his engineering major but realized it was not his calling. His first job was as a Database Engineer - he picked up SQL and enjoyed his 2 years there. But then realized it was not what he really cared about. He remembered how much he had enjoyed writing a socio-technique paper during his undergrad at UVA on the Yamuna river and its revival. He went back to meet his advisor, who encouraged him to pursue a PhD in the field of Environmental History at UVA. He was always interested in the environment and always felt connected to the Yamuna river. He was interested in the connection between religion and environment. His work in grad school continues to focus on the Yamuna.

His 3 Strengths

Curiosity and a willingness to learn. Perseverance (in order to finish his PhD). Pursues his dreams

Learning from Failures

You can't be afraid of criticism. In India, people fear it but here in the US it's used as a way to grow. 

His Current Interests

He dropped basketball in the US as everyone here was much better than in India and now plays cricket in the US. When he first came to the US, he used to play the guitar but grad school takes up a lot of time so he has not been singing and playing the guitar that much. He is currently into yoga (more on that later). 

His Current Job

As a museum curator, one of things he does is create exhibitions. He has to select objects and present it using certain arguments. Curators also collect objects for posterity. He gets to have very interesting conversations with people in all walks of life while collecting objects. Curators also conduct research. He is working on an exhibition for the Smithsonian's 175th anniversary to reconstruct some technological presentations.

Online Curation during COVID

Many plans have been postponed as museums are places people physically visit. At the same time, this is an interesting time to collect objects for future generations - such as masks and photographs people have been taking during COVID.

On Spirituality

He meditates and reads a lot of philosophical literature. Yoga started off as a way of exercising at home in the last year. He found a yoga studio that he liked and has made friends there. It's helped his physical and mental well-being and he has started a yoga teacher training class. During COVID he has been taking yoga classes online. He is a huge fan of the Bhagvad Gita. He started reading it on his flight to the US 10 years ago. It offers a fascinating perspective of life. It resonates with a lot of people from different backgrounds. He also reads a lot of fantasy fiction and recommends people read Brandon Sanderson.

Advice to Students in times of COVID

To those who just graduated and for whom job prospects don't look good, keep in mind that this will pass. Use your connections to get any experience even if it's an unpaid internship. To those who might have to join their first college semester online, it's okay to be disappointed but it's also a new experience and you are part of history going through this. Things will go back to in-person classes at some point. Use this unexpected situation to look for unexpected rewards.