Meet Our Instructors: Mrigaanka Sharma

Mrigaanka Sharma

Pronouns: they/she

Majors: Molecular & Cellular Biology and Medicine, Science, & the Humanities

Minor: The Writing Seminars

What surprises you about teaching for WBS? 

I teach 4th and 5th grade, which means my students are mostly 10 or 11 years old. I am constantly astounded by how genuinely funny these kids are. Their comedic timing is flawless, and I never know when to expect a straight-faced quip or clever comeback. At the same time, as I learn more about my students’ lives outside the classroom, it becomes clear that many of them have had experiences and challenges far beyond their years. The difficult conversations and funny moments all remind me that my students are really whole people with complex ideas and emotions. It's easy to forget that as you get older, and it's a realization that humbles me all the time.

What has teaching writing taught you about your own writing?

Working with young writers has reminded me that writing can and should be fun! When I was my students' age, writing was carefree: a way to channel my overactive imagination and play with words. As I've grown older, my writing has started simultaneously reaching deeper inward, to explore very personal topics, as well as outward, with the awareness of representing my ideas meaningfully to others. Although I'm grateful that writing enables me to navigate my identity and the world around me, at the end of the day, weight is weight. I think reading my students' work has given me back some of the lightness that I first felt when writing.

What are some things you love?

Third spaces, thrifting, and annoying my friends and family.