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*** No matter how big or small, every contribution matters. For you it will be few bucks but for me it will be one step closer to my dream ***
Jamia Millia Islamia's Alumni, A Kashmiri Nosh, Uttar Pradesh's Daughter, A Techie with a Hijab & A proud Mother - Hi I am Darakshan and I hold an offer from University of Edinburgh for MSc in Advanced Technology for Financial Computing. The university has an acceptance rate of 10% for the course I hold an offer for. It’s the World’s most prestigious university (QS World Rank #20) and the department of informatics is ranked 12th in the world.
Jamia Millia Islamia's Alumni, A Kashmiri Nosh, Uttar Pradesh's Daughter, A Techie with a Hijab & A proud Mother - Hi I am Darakshan and I hold an offer from University of Edinburgh for MSc in Advanced Technology for Financial Computing. The university has an acceptance rate of 10% for the course I hold an offer for. It’s the World’s most prestigious university (QS World Rank #20) and the department of informatics is ranked 12th in the world.
Please refer to the below coverages:
1) The Dispatch
Journey so far hasn’t been easy. Being born in a family of traditional mind, my parents were given all sorts of taunts of giving birth to a girl but neither my father nor my mother ever made me feel the other way. People said all sorts of things like “Why invest so much in a girl, eventually she will get married and go to someone's house”.
During my secondary board exams, my father suffered a great loss in business, Somehow, he managed to pay my fees despite the fees hike the same year. Later I came to know that my mother sold her jewellery for my school fees. She always believed that education is more important than material things. I realized my mother wanted me to have everything that she couldn’t have. That year in 2009, I stood meritorious in secondary exam with first rank in the state and received "Amul VidyaShree" award. I remember my dad’s face lit up with joy on seeing my picture in the newspaper.
My grades in secondary board exam brought me fully funded scholarship for senior secondary school. After that I did BSc in Information Technology from Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Kanpur. During this period, I gave tuitions to underprivileged kids without any fees in Kanpur. I believe if we can contribute towards the society in any manner, we should not hold back. Sparing few hours out of my schedule for these kids brought tremendous amount of happiness and satisfaction in my life. I didn’t want to burden my parents with fees anymore, so I took various entrance examinations and finally was able to secure a place in Jamia Millia Islamia – A central University for Master’s in Computer Application.
I completed my Master’s with Distinction and took my first job as Process Trainee. Within a year I was promoted to Business Analyst based on my performance and efficiency of tools that I build for my team. I received many recognitions and was nominated for Chairman's award, which is the highest honors in the firm. Being from computer science background and applying that knowledge and skills into building tools for financial firm developed my interest in learning more about financial computing. I wanted to pursue a higher degree in the same, but the things that followed made me almost give up on my dream.
In August 2019, I got married to a resident of Kashmir. Never have I imagined the life can be so difficult. Basic things which we take for granted almost every day are privilege for people living here. Schools and colleges are shut since August 2019 that is even before Covid -19 pandemic. Situation here mostly remains tense and students suffer the most. I just couldn’t sit back and watch all the kids miss out on their studies due to lockdown. I started providing tuitions to help them in studies but with rise in Covid-19, I had to switch to video calls and telephonic lessons. During this period, I had conversation with mothers, and I realized the mental stress mothers are going through. Single headedly managing the house, kids and their studies are not the easy task. Speaking to them I realized women forget their dreams to build dreams of their children. I want to motivate women here and everywhere, influence them to focus on their ambitions too. After having my son, I was always constantly supported by my family to pursue my dream. Their encouragement led me to apply to University of Edinburgh. I have been given this opportunity, I want it to utilize it for the welfare of all the women who brush aside their dreams under peer pressure. After all – “You educate a woman; you educate a generation”
The locality has very few women enrolled for technical courses like the one I am intending to study. Studying in the University is going to help me broaden my horizon and meet people from different sections and communities. I want to build a technical training institute for women and provide all women an equal opportunity to prove that women are no lesser than men when it comes to technology. Given an opportunity women can excel in any field they want. Together we can help each other and promote things that are right for our society and change the thinking of society that is negatively driven towards women.
There were very few funding opportunities given the pandemic situation however I was able to secure scholarship worth 8000 GBP and an educational loan of 7266 GBP. I need your help in arranging for the remaining tuition fees. It’s unfair to lose an opportunity like this due to lack of funds.
I would humbly request you to support me in the best of your capacity and share my word with friends & family. Your support can make a difference and inspire women to pursue their dreams. In case you have any queries, please feel free to reach me out on darakshanali21@gmail.com
During my secondary board exams, my father suffered a great loss in business, Somehow, he managed to pay my fees despite the fees hike the same year. Later I came to know that my mother sold her jewellery for my school fees. She always believed that education is more important than material things. I realized my mother wanted me to have everything that she couldn’t have. That year in 2009, I stood meritorious in secondary exam with first rank in the state and received "Amul VidyaShree" award. I remember my dad’s face lit up with joy on seeing my picture in the newspaper.
My grades in secondary board exam brought me fully funded scholarship for senior secondary school. After that I did BSc in Information Technology from Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Kanpur. During this period, I gave tuitions to underprivileged kids without any fees in Kanpur. I believe if we can contribute towards the society in any manner, we should not hold back. Sparing few hours out of my schedule for these kids brought tremendous amount of happiness and satisfaction in my life. I didn’t want to burden my parents with fees anymore, so I took various entrance examinations and finally was able to secure a place in Jamia Millia Islamia – A central University for Master’s in Computer Application.
I completed my Master’s with Distinction and took my first job as Process Trainee. Within a year I was promoted to Business Analyst based on my performance and efficiency of tools that I build for my team. I received many recognitions and was nominated for Chairman's award, which is the highest honors in the firm. Being from computer science background and applying that knowledge and skills into building tools for financial firm developed my interest in learning more about financial computing. I wanted to pursue a higher degree in the same, but the things that followed made me almost give up on my dream.
In August 2019, I got married to a resident of Kashmir. Never have I imagined the life can be so difficult. Basic things which we take for granted almost every day are privilege for people living here. Schools and colleges are shut since August 2019 that is even before Covid -19 pandemic. Situation here mostly remains tense and students suffer the most. I just couldn’t sit back and watch all the kids miss out on their studies due to lockdown. I started providing tuitions to help them in studies but with rise in Covid-19, I had to switch to video calls and telephonic lessons. During this period, I had conversation with mothers, and I realized the mental stress mothers are going through. Single headedly managing the house, kids and their studies are not the easy task. Speaking to them I realized women forget their dreams to build dreams of their children. I want to motivate women here and everywhere, influence them to focus on their ambitions too. After having my son, I was always constantly supported by my family to pursue my dream. Their encouragement led me to apply to University of Edinburgh. I have been given this opportunity, I want it to utilize it for the welfare of all the women who brush aside their dreams under peer pressure. After all – “You educate a woman; you educate a generation”
The locality has very few women enrolled for technical courses like the one I am intending to study. Studying in the University is going to help me broaden my horizon and meet people from different sections and communities. I want to build a technical training institute for women and provide all women an equal opportunity to prove that women are no lesser than men when it comes to technology. Given an opportunity women can excel in any field they want. Together we can help each other and promote things that are right for our society and change the thinking of society that is negatively driven towards women.
There were very few funding opportunities given the pandemic situation however I was able to secure scholarship worth 8000 GBP and an educational loan of 7266 GBP. I need your help in arranging for the remaining tuition fees. It’s unfair to lose an opportunity like this due to lack of funds.
I would humbly request you to support me in the best of your capacity and share my word with friends & family. Your support can make a difference and inspire women to pursue their dreams. In case you have any queries, please feel free to reach me out on darakshanali21@gmail.com
