An Instant Connection Brings Alumni Couple Together

It wasn’t long after the first time Nikhil Bhat and Sangeeta Shenoy crossed paths and met each other for the very first time, that Nikhil found himself on one knee popping the question. In fact, it was nine days following their first meeting that the two were engaged to be wed.

Bhat explains it as a fairy tale proposal, saying that it happened outside under the night sky.

“in a movie style scenario I promised her that we and the stars would be together forever” Bhat says as he looks back on what he sees as one of the best moments of his life.

Eight years later and now with two children, Nikhil and Sangeeta continue to look back at their time at UNTHSC with a lot of love in their hearts claiming that it was the family and friends they made here that will make the campus and Fort Worth always feel like home.

As a physician from India working in clinical research, Bhat has obtained two master’s degrees, one from UNTHSC, and is currently a PhD candidate in Philadelphia while also working full-time.

Sangeeta graduated from the School of Public Health in 2013 and now works with the University of Pennsylvania as an Associate Fellow and Senior Clinical Research Coordinator, focusing on community engagement and health services research.

“I knew she was the one,” Bhat says.

“There was an instant connection – of course she was beautiful, intelligent, and amazing, but it was how caring she was towards others that was her most stand-out quality.”

Nikhil and Sangeeta plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year jointly with their anniversary by sharing small gifts, going out for dinner dates, and by going for a cruise on the road hand-in-hand.