Alumni Interview
Interview with Jyoti Sharp - Class of 2000

How did the program fit into your life?

Graduating from the program was a significant milestone in my life. It marked the end of a journey begun 25 years earlier, when I first majored in psychology out of high school and then veered off into the world of corporate finance. It also marks the first steps on another path, on which my passion and life work are finally converging.

What kinds of work have you done in the field since graduating?

In the summer after graduation I opened a private practice focusing on issues around sudden and profound loss. My clientele has steadily expanded and soon I will be utilizing an office three days per week. I am also involved with a small and wonderful group of people who are visioning a new organization, one that provides a contemplative team model of care for people needing support through some sort of life transition, such as terminal illness or sudden loss.

What's your latest work?

One of my clients has asked me to form a group for people who have lost someone as a result of a climbing/hiking/mountaineering accident. A colleague and I are in the process of forming such a group. I hope this is the beginning of other work with groups.

Another endeavor I'm very excited about is the Hakomi Body-Centered Psychotherapy Training I began just after graduation. This training both augments and deepens my Naropa experience.

What stands out for you about your time as a student at Naropa that most prepared you to work with others?

My time at Naropa taught me so many things, but what stands out most is the community of people I call ‘my classmates.’ From those brave, bold, outrageous warriors I learned so much about myself... about how I am in the world and what effect my way of being has on others. It was a call to show up which was excruciatingly painful at times, often humbling, rarely boring, and always full of surprises. My experience at Naropa taught me how to be present with myself, to recognize and appreciate the mud and muck along with the sanity and wisdom. It's practically a cliche around Naropa to say so, but it seems so true, that the more I am able to be present for myself, the more fully present I can be with others.

Did you hold a job while you were in the program?

I held the position of assistant comptroller of Naropa throughout my three years in the program. It was challenging to be on both sides of the Naropa experience, a bit like seeing the way the magic trick works. I'm grateful to have held a staff position at Naropa during my time in the program, and I am aware of the costs of attending school full time and working almost full time.

Can you say more about your experience of working and being a student in the program at the same time?

I was perpetually tired, often leaving work after a full day and going home to write a paper. There was also a direct effect on my ability to participate fully in the community social events. Still, I would probably choose to do it the same way again. Working hard and playing hard in a team environment with a wonderful group of co-workers provided an outlet and helped balance out the intensity of the program.

Did you do any volunteer work prior to internship?

During my first year in the program I learned of an internship at Boulder Community Hospital as a Chaplain and knew this is where I wanted to be. I had witnessed the death of my fiancé many years earlier in an emergency room and had learned firsthand what I needed from others during that experience. I began volunteering as an on-call chaplain, wearing a pager on nights and weekends, continued to volunteer throughout my internship and remain one today.

How did your volunteer experience help to prepare you for internship?

As a volunteer I developed a ground of experience that prepared me for the intensity of internship, becoming familiar with many aspects of the hospital as well as formal and, more importantly, informal protocol. By the time I began my internship I could focus on what called me to this work. I could just be there and be present for another in a time of intense pain.

Can you describe your experience as an intern?

My internship work focused around death, dying and loss, primarily in the Emergency Rooms and Intensive Care Units, but I encountered a myriad of ways to suffer. At first, the suffering was overwhelming. But somewhere along the way, within the suffering, I also touched the joy. With this internship I feel that I came full circle, in that I was ultimately able to give back what I had once received. I found myself on the ‘other side’ of profound loss, offering only myself, knowing it could never be enough, and yet also knowing it is all I have.

Is there anything else you want to add?

I feel so blessed to have found a program that integrated personal work and life work. Who I am made sense here, and seemed so far away from the gray-suit-and-bowtie life I lived so many years ago. I was encouraged to bring all of myself and didn't need to leave any parts behind. This has been one of the most fulfilling times of my life. I consider it a gift to myself.

Any words of wisdom to share with prospective students of the program?

Just be open.