Humble beginnings: Gold medallists at Bengaluru City University share stories of hard work & determination | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: When the fourth convocation of BCU takes place Wednesday, Anusha S, an MSc student of department of chemistry, Central College, will walk away with five gold medals, the highest this season. Daughter to a farmer-father and garment factor worker, Anusha said, “When I took up physics, chemistry, and maths in degree, it was chemistry that caught my eye. I taught in a private school for some time and now hope to crack some govt exams.” For gold medallists at BCU, it was consistent work towards success. Hardships at home drove Sanjana RS, a student of Visveswarapura College of Arts and Commerce to study hard and win three gold medals in BCom. “My father is a watchman. My brother dropped out after class 10 to manage home. He was the one who funded me to study,” she said. “When I took up BCom, it was to fetch a good salary. But soon, accounting became my favourite subject. I hope to do CA now. The hardship that my family goes through motivates me to work even harder,” she said. She is currently working as an accountant for a private company. Manan Jain, a BBA student at Seshadripuram Arts, Science and Commerce College, will also receive three gold medals.BOX:If lifelong learning had a face, it could be Priya Bhalachandra’s. At the age of 56, Priya completed her MA in French from the department of global languages, Central College, with two gold medals from BCU. “Learning doesn’t stop at any particular age,” Priya told TOI. Priya, with a diploma in French, came back after a break of 22 years to pursue an MA. She secured a cumulative score of 72.8%.“I have a diploma in French. I worked with Alliance Francaise and taught in schools, was posted as a head examiner for CBSE before taking a break for the family. I wanted to return to work and realised that a post-graduation is necessary for career growth. I was interested in the language from my younger days.” She juggled her responsibilities while finding time for online classes. Her learning was supplemented by reference work, involving academic journals, internet resources, and key texts by established authors.BOX:The first batch of undergraduate NEP students of Bengaluru City University will graduate at its convocation ceremony. With a pass percentage of about 78.1%, around 39,780 students will graduate. This includes 32,486 UG and 7,294 PG students, who will receive their certificates. The pass percentage is 71% for UG and 85% for PG programmes. Nine students will receive their PhD degree. “This is the fourth graduation ceremony of the university. When it began, there were very few departments, and that is why the number of PhDs is low. Now, around 40 students have enrolled,” said K R Jalaja, acting vice-chancellor.Sixty-four students will receive gold medals. Around 41% of students enrolled in BCU are boys. “The number of boys getting enrolled in higher education is coming down,” she observed.(By Raksha Hosur Pradeep)