Success Story : Shubhra Saxena, the UPSC topper 2008-2009

Those preparing for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam can take lessons from Shubhra Saxena, the UPSC topper this year. Saxena feels that it is more about the quality than the number of hours one puts in. To succeed, she adds, one doesn’t need to devote 15 to 18 hours a day.

“If you over exhaust yourself in the initial three months, you won’t be able to sustain the energy and enthusiasm for an entire year or two,” she says. Saxena, a software engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, was working at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Noida. She quit her job to prepare for the exam. “I was not satisfied with what I was doing. Not being able to contribute towards any social good made me restless. That is when I decided to leave the job and prepare for the civil services exam,” she says.

Before CSC, Saxena was working with a software company. “Since we tend to get used to certain comfort levels once we start working, it took me time to get back to books. But, I decided to take the plunge all the same. All in all, it was worth it, though it took me more than one attempt.”

Even though Saxena failed to clear the exam the first time, she persevered and was successful in her second attempt. What worked? “There was no major shift in terms of preparation. However, a hurried preparation in a short span of time could have worked against me in the first year,” recalls Saxena.

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Courtesy:- Times of India