In our list of India's Best 50 - the 50 Most Employable Students from the Class of 2020-22, we feature MBA students who have walked that extra mile and done that little more to stand out. One of those featured in today's story, Sonali Sehnaz, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve her true potential. Read on and find out her story!
The following are Sonali Sehnaz’s set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top-50 Most Employable MBA Graduates of the Class of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Sonali's story and profile stood out. Here's her story in her own words.
Name an instance where you wanted something and went out of your comfort zone to achieve it OR Tell us the biggest risk you have taken so far in your life.
I was always fascinated by the Indian Defence Forces and had dreamt of joining it ever since I was a child. The pride and honour that uniform exudes is unmatchable. During my engineering, I joined the National Cadet Corps to get a glimpse of life in the armed forces. I managed all the camps, certification exams & the physical grind along with my academics at National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur. During my final year, giving into my dreams, I started my preparation for the Written examinations CDSE, AFCAT, and the SSB Interview process. I cleared all of these exams on my first attempt, but got rejected from the Service Selection Board (SSB) on the 5th & the last day. This was a significant setback, and especially after I had my dreams so close to my reach. Then came my college placements, and just like any other engineering soon-to-be-graduate, I sat for multiple processes and bagged an offer. But my motivation and drive to serve were high enough that I decided not to take the College placement offer and went ahead with my preparation for the Defence Forces. In the next two years, I cleared the exam & one of the most challenging interview processes, that is, SSB, five times for all 3 branches of the Armed forces - Indian Army, Airforce and Navy & cleared the most stringent of medical processes. But alas, the Indian Defence Forces have very limited vacancies for women candidates in their final merit list and thus, I couldn't make it into the merit list and my dream was always a little far away. However, despite not getting into the merit list all 5 times, the experience has taught me lifelong lessons & helped me build mental strength that has reinforced the thought that I can face anything in life.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
While I was teaching NDA aspirants after graduation, my mother, a government teacher, told me about one of her students. The girl was a class in the 11th standard, outstanding in studies but from a very low-income family. I then asked her to arrange a meeting with this girls family. Very soon, I convinced her parents to get her enrolled in the coaching institute where I was teaching. Meanwhile, I had requested the institute's director to partially fund her tuition fees while I paid the rest from my own pocket. Two years later, that girl was doing exceptionally well and is currently pursuing her MBBS! During the Covid pandemic when everyone was locked inside the four walls, to better utilise my time & skills, I joined an NGO, Hamari Pahchan where I remotely worked with them to collect funds for a sanitary napkin distribution drive aimed at unprivileged women and girls.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
I am a person who hates completing tasks at the eleventh hour. So in one of the assignments during my graduation, it so happened that my group sas content in believing that wed start working a few hours before the deadline. Worse, we had a deadline for another academic project coinciding with this one!. Starting at the last minute would have led to sub-par work & poor-quality submission since we would have been short of time. So I took the initiative of arranging the meetings well ahead of time & divided the work amongst ourselves so that we could submit a meaningful submission and at least get to learn something out of it! Even today, whenever in a group with new people, I always try to bring everyone on the same page regarding working on time. I cannot entirely agree with anyone who says that we can manage it at the last minute. I have and will always make sure that the work is done throughout the duration of my course and that I keep scheduling meetings to enable it, which sometimes may lead to disagreements that I am always willing to resolve.
What is the one thing you can claim to have some level of expertise or depth of knowledge in - it could be anything - a subject, a sport, a hobby, a venture, an initiative which has led you to do deep work in that field?
I have always had a knack for acing competitive exams for Indian Defence Forces from NDA, UPSC CDSE, and all the way to AFCAT. Having cleared the exam & the SSB Interview process multiple times, I decided to help defence aspirants achieve their dream of joining the Armed forces & fulfilling my dream vicariously through them. So for two years before I started with my MBA journey, I was teaching & mentoring NDA aspirants professionally. I guided them for their written exams as well as the Interview process. Having my students clear the toughest selection processes in the country was one of the happiest moments for me. Even today, I get lots of queries through my social media handles, and I try helping as many of them as I can!
If 10 Million Dollars (approximately INR 75 Crores) is given to you to use it any way you deem fit what would you do with this corpus?
India is home to around eight lakhs sex workers, with the majority being either women or LGBTQ+. Most come from impoverished backgrounds, and are trafficked or forced into prostitution to meet their daily needs. Due to poverty, lack of resources and acceptance in society, Children of these sex workers remain disadvantaged in terms of getting educated & job opportunities, leading to a vicious cycle that never ends. Moreover, the Covid pandemic has made the situation worse. Despite various programs and NGOs working in this direction, much work still needs to be done. I want to use 10 million dollars to set up Educational and Skill Development centres for sex workers and their children. The entire facility would only be run by people that belong to this community to prevent any untowardness or discrimination. It will ensure a sound understanding of their needs & psychology and help us provide the facilities to them in a better way. The ultimate goal is ensuring their equal participation in the workforce and society as a whole and hence upliftment of families of sex workers.
Read the stories of the other Employable Graduates here!