Journey at IIT – Discovering Myself

Here’s my journey at IIT Madras and how I ended up switching fields – A confused, cautious and tough decision for one to make.

I grew up listening to the experiences of my parents who work for the state government of Andhra Pradesh and got insights into administration, governance, and policy at a young age. As a kid, I always dreamt of serving the people by joining public services. With JEE coaching in the trend and me being good at mathematics, I joined Narayana coaching at my hometown right from 6th standard. From 9th to 12th grade, I continued my coaching in Narayana Hyderabad amidst the “bright” minds in the state. I cleared the joint entrance examination for IITs with a good rank and ended up joining Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras.

Soon after my freshmen year, I realised that the field does not interest me. A monotony of going to classes, doing coursework and writing exams followed. My attention diverted to degrees like Public Policy and Public Administration. I wished I were in one of those courses for bachelors. I started considering graduate school in policy and administration as a possible career path and took up courses accordingly. In my sophomore year, I did extensive research on all the Master’s programs available all around the world. I was discouraged by everyone who pointed out my CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) stating that I needed a minimum of 8.5 to apply for Masters. I was at 7.9 then and I knew the number was going to fall hard with the hurdles of electrical engineering ahead. I left my hope on Masters. I stopped making future plans and let life take me where it wants to. The best thing about IIT Madras is the flexibility it provides through electives and minors. I decided to pick courses with learning being the sole objective without worrying about grades. I always wanted to explore the field of public affairs – Humanities and Social Sciences department came to my rescue. I chose Development Policy as my minor to delve deeper into the field. Courses like Technology and Public Policy, Development Planning and Project Appraisal gave me a policy exposure.

I witnessed many atrocities against women and personally experienced them. I always considered myself strong to stand up for justice. I never realised that even I would succumb to the fear of societal opinion until I experienced it. These realisations in life with time made me more compassionate towards women and minorities who face challenges on a daily basis. It is then that I decided to fight against these societal odds to build a better society.

I was actively involved with the Office of International and Alumni Relations (IAR) since my sophomore year and in my senior year, I decided to contest for the position of Secretary, the highest position in the student governance structure of the institute. I wanted to bring the change I envisioned for the institute. When I expressed my interest to contest the election, I received criticism from all the directions. In an institute where girls form only ten percent of the total population, it was considered impossible for me to contest and win. When I stood strong and put my nomination, I was ridiculed. During the campaign, I had to face bias of the election code against female candidates. Though I had to sacrifice on my campaign time, I put efforts into getting the election code changed to make sure that girl contestants don’t have to face the same problems in the future. Because of my determination as well as strong candidature for the position, I was finally elected by 9000+ students of IIT Madras and those five months of election taught me lessons which developed confidence in me to achieve bigger goals. I became the first female Secretary of IAR. During my tenure as Secretary, I faced roadblocks to my work from fellow secretaries as well as the administration due to their failure to acknowledge a girl becoming the secretary. I overcame these roadblocks with my unyielding perseverance. I have developed a better understanding of the problems faced by women in different walks of life and am determined to contribute to that field.

All final year students in B.Tech should either do a Project (BTP) or three extra courses in their department to receive the final degree. I neither wanted to do a project in electrical sciences nor wanted to take up extra courses. I expressed my interests in the field of policy and administration to my faculty advisor and Head of the Department. My friends told me that any faculty would never accept me doing a BTP in other departments. But the professors heard me out, respected my interests and gave me an opportunity to pursue a BTP in the department of Humanities and Social Sciences. Here’s to everyone who thinks IITs are rigid. Trust me, IITs are very flexible. They let you discover yourself. They give you the best opportunity to explore.

As a part of a course seminar, I presented my literature review on gender equality in developing countries like India. I was surprised by the statistics on inequality towards women. This inspired me to do further research on the issue of inequality. I chose “Challenges faced by Women in Administrative Roles; With a Special Emphasis on Electrical Engineering” as my BTP topic under the guidance of Prof. Sudarshan Padmanabhan. By the end of the final year,  I finished my BTP by formulating surveys and interviewing women in administrative and executive roles from diverse fields of IIT Madras. I analysed the responses and came up with policy suggestions for both the Institute and Government.

I left to the United States for a short break in the summer after my third year. There was a huge pressure on me from my family to sit for placements and take up a job. I decided not to sit for placements as none of the profiles were policy or administration oriented. Higher studies was never an option due to my CGPA. I thought of graduating from IIT Madras and joining an NGO to gain some experience in the field of policy.

We meet everyone in life for a reason. I came back from the USA and attended my first Student Legislative Council session. Soon after the session, the speaker of IIT Madras introduced me to a woman who was doing Ph.D. at Indiana University in the area of Gender Policy. She wanted to interview me about my life and elections on campus. We scheduled a time for the interview and it went well. In our conversations, I told her that it was my dream once upon a time to do Masters in Policy but realised I couldn’t due to my less CGPA (7.19 by then). She was surprised. She told me that CGPA is not the only criteria for Masters. With my interests and achievements on campus, she was sure I would get in if I apply. She asked a few of her seniors and admissions committee back in her University. They were interested in my profile and told me to give it a try. This gave me the confidence to finally apply for a Masters degree. It was already August of my final year, 2017. I thought it was too late to apply for fall of 2018. My friends suggested me to apply for Spring 2019. After shortlisting the universities and programs I was interested in, I realised applying in the fall is the best as most programs have openings only then. I decided to be dedicated. GRE and TOEFL only took 2 weeks of strict preparation. I applied to 9 universities. Many of them had personal interviews where I was mainly asked about the change I brought into society till now. In my Statement of Purpose (SoP), I honestly spoke about my life story and my life goals. I finally got admissions from the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University, Brown University, and the University of Georgia. I choose to do MS in Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

At the end of all this when I looked back into my life, everything I did fell into place. Unknowingly, I was driven by my passion. All the coursework, workshops and conferences took me close to policy and administration. It was just a matter of time I realised my interests. IIT is the best thing that happened to me. This is where I discovered myself and got the confidence to face the world.

While driving the International Relations of the institute, my interactions with people from different parts of the world broadened my perspective and contributed to the diversity of my thoughts. I have been pushing my boundaries from time to time to bring out my best. My journey has taught me a lot about justice, inequality and most importantly the courage to stand up for a cause. My life experiences inspired my interest in knowing the science behind policy-making and effective administration which led to my interest in pursuing a graduate degree in Public Affairs. I see them as necessary and important tools to elevate society out of the issues prevalent in the contemporary world. I want to make the life of disadvantaged people, especially women, better through my work. I envision bringing the global best practices in public affairs to India and leading the path for my country to be a developed nation. Now at Penn, I am enjoying everything I am learning. The knowledge and experience I gained from IIT are making me unique and special.

IIT gave me the best time of my life. It pushed me out of my comfort zone to bring out my best. It equipped me with both knowledge and wisdom. It gave me relationships to cherish for a lifetime. It made me into what I am today.

At the end of all of this, If I am asked to define myself – A bold and dynamic young woman who loves facing challenges with confidence.