Bay Path University international student, DawaDrolma, ’17, comes from the Tibetan village of Dzongsar, half a world away, over 7400 miles from Massachusetts. If you were to look beyond Hollywood films, at Tibet’s true history, it can be found in its strong craft tradition. For DawaDrolma, her mission is to keep those handcrafts alive. In doing so, she hopes to bring Tibet to the world.

A double major in Small Business Management and Marketing at Bay Path University, Dawa’s education has taken on a larger focus: “how can I develop the skills and knowledge that will help the metal workers, weavers, and jewelry makers find new markets that will allow them to continue doing what they love?” From developing business plans, establishing websites, to accounting, Dawa is studying all of the components that contribute to a successful startup. Her goal is to return to Tibet and create a modern, internet-based business selling the products of these artisans. She is already well on her way.

Dawa’s achievements are extraordinary. She has designed and developed the content for her own website, http://dawadrolma.strikingly.com/, as well as Facebook/Tale of Tibetans, housing a library of her videos, photography and efforts to promote Tibetan artisans. Her endeavors have not gone unnoticed, and recently she participated in a prestigious conference in Paris sponsored by the European Research Council, “Territories, Communities, and Exchanges in the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands.”

This summer took Dawa to Washington, D.C., for an internship with Smithsonian Institute’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Her summer work included video documenting artisans in Tibet, working on site in Washington, and presentations at the Freer Sackler Museum and Yale University.