Shriya Venkatesh, BS ’16, MEd ’18

Shriya Venkatesh graduated from UCLA in 2016 with a B.S. in Cognitive Science and a minor in Education Studies. She also earned her teaching credential in 2017 and her M.Ed. in 2018 through UCLA’s Teacher Education Program. As an undergraduate, she pursued both College Honors and a Departmental Honors thesis which focused on the school experiences of biracial middle school students. Some of Shriya’s favorite memories from her years at UCLA were made with The Writer’s Den, a student-organized creative writing and service group, where she served as Director of Volunteering. She was also involved in multiple research labs in the Psychology Department and had the opportunity to present the results of her research at undergraduate research conferences. Shriya received the Ehrlich Scholarship and the National Merit Scholarship in 2012 and received the Cassanova Family Fellowship in 2016.

For Shriya, the Ehrlich Scholarship has led to connecting with a supportive community of accomplished women; she’s thankful for the opportunity to learn from incredible examples and mentor some extraordinary young Bruins. Shriya is now a full-time science teacher in LAUSD. She’s always on the look-out for educational resources and collaborations around social justice education – reach out to her if you’re interested!