“WHEN SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS, YOU HAVE THREE CHOICES.YOU CAN EITHER LET IT DEFINE YOU, DESTROY YOU OR STRENGTHEN YOU.”
When depression hit Alankrita, she did not let it destroy her life. She fought against depression so bravely that she topped the UPSC exams. Alankrita Pandey, a Kanpur girl, battled depression before she made her mark in the civil services exam. Not only did she pass the exam, but achieved 85th rank in her first attempt itself. Here’s all that you need to know about the inspirational story of Alankrita Pandey.
Alankrita’s life through depression
Alankrita belongs to middle class family from Kanpur,Uttar Pradesh. She did engineering from MNIIT-Allahabad and worked in an IT company in Bangalore. But unfortunately, she went through a personal crisis and had to rely on anti-depressants. She even had to take anger management sessions for her depression. She had decided to give the IAS exam of 2014, but could not even write the prelims exam that year. This situation remained till October 2014, after which her life took a better turn.
‘Your thoughts become things. Make them good.’- ALANKRITA
Alankrita’s strategy to crack CSE 2015
Alankrita then decided to take control of things and make her life better. She stuck a piece of paper on the wall that said, “I want a 2-digit AIR in CSE- 2015”. Alankrita had already achieved her goal in her mind, and now she just had to achieve it physically. She then started her preparation for CSE 2015. Her day began at 6 A.M. in the morning with jogging and yoga. Only after jogging, she would start studying. According to her, jogging and Yoga help her a lot to focus on studies. Whenever she felt demotivated, she wrote on a paper that why she started preparing for IAS exam.This would take away all her fears and she felt motivated again.
She planned her preparation first at macro level and then at micro level. Alankrita completed the full mains syllabus by May 2015, then reduced it to topic wise scheduling and then hour wise every day. She would rather read a single book 4-5 times rather than reading 4-5 books for one subject. Newspaper played an important role in her preparation. She also relied on the internet for information and strategy.
The process of examination took a whole year, she studied keeping in mind that it might be asked a year later in their interview. Her strategy was to be able to retain the points in long term memory.
“The power of positive thinking cannot be emphasized enough. I think it was my most important asset throughout the preparation.“, says Alankrita
Her motivation throughout the journey
Alankrita says that her father always used to encouraging her. He made her believe that she is going to achieve her dreams. This belief and faith that her father showed always kept her positive. She also thanks her friends who counselled her during her depression and motivated her to fulfill her dreams. Alankrita secured 85th rank in UPSC exams while she was active on social networking sites throughout the preparations.
From fighting depression to getting a 2 digit rank in the Civil Services exam, Alankrita Pandey’s journey is an inspirational one. She not only overcame depression but also achieved her dream to crack the UPSC exam. Alankrita is an inspiration to the youth, giving a message that attitude is much important than aptitude. One’s will power and determination leads to success.
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