Success Story of UPSC Topper 2021 Shruti Sharma (AIR 1)
UPSC Topper 2021 Shruti Sharma has secured AIR 1 due to her hard work and determination. Her story is an inspiration for those who have failed this exam. She failed just once and came back stronger.
UPSC Topper 2021 Shruti Sharma AIR 1 IAS
Failures are a part of success. Thomas Edison wisely said, “I have not failed 1000 times, I will say that I discovered there are 1000 ways that can cause failure”. Those who learn from this surely succeed. This is the story of UPSC 2021 Topper, Shruti Sharma. One failure was enough to make her realise her shortcomings. And how well! She secured AIR 1 in UPSC Final result 2021.
This year has been great for females who appeared in the UPSC Civil Services Exam. The top 4 positions of this year’s results of UPSC CSE 2021 have been occupied by female candidates, Shruti Sharma (AIR 1), Ankita Agarwal (AIR 2), Gamini Singla (AIR 3) and Aishwarya Verma (AIR 4). Among them, Shruti Sharma has emerged as the leader. Let us take a look at her UPSC success story below.
UPSC Topper Shruti Sharma: Success Story
Shruti Sharma is a resident of the Bijnore district in Uttar Pradesh. She attended Cambridge Primary School, Delhi from KG to Class 5th and later shifted to Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi for further education.
Shruti Sharma is an alumnus of St Stephen’s College of Delhi University. She was a student of History Honours in her graduation days. She then shifted to pursue a Master’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Modern History.
She then in the meantime also got enrolled in Jamia Millia Islamia residential Coaching Academy for UPSC Preparation. This is where she got the impetus required for UPSC CSE Preparation.
Shruti Sharma UPSC Preparation, Attempts & Success:
Shruti shared her excitement with us stating that she did not expect the results to be this good. Although, she was expecting the results to be positive for her, securing All India Rank 1 was not what she dreamt of.
“At first I could not believe that my name was on the top. I checked the results twice to confirm,” she said excitedly.
Shruti had a very distinctive journey as a UPSC candidate. She began her preparation four years ago. Shruti always wanted to become an IAS officer. She started with the basics, however. She started with the preparation of UPSC IAS by studying the NCERTs. She relied on newspapers and on the notes made by her only for the UPSC preparation. Shruti Sharma, while preparing said, “You should do what you like. That will give you the required motivation in this journey.”
It seems Shruti Sharma did not follow what people suggested she should do. Instead, she followed her own methods and techniques which were suitable to her brain levels.
Shruti, however, did not succeed in her first UPSC attempt. When asked she said, “This is my second attempt. Due to some issues with the medium of instruction, I had to take my Mains examination in Hindi. I missed my interview call by one mark.” Missing her interview by just one mark left an impression on her to work even harder the next time. Shruti realised her mistakes and came back stronger in her second attempt securing AIR 1 in UPSC CSE 2021.
Shruti asks the candidates of UPSC CSE to remain patient throughout their journey. Shruti focused on the quality of her learning and asks the candidates not to think much about the hours of study they put in. “t’s not about the number of hours spent studying; it’s about the quality of the study. Studying is important, but counting hours is not. Strategy is also significant, so one should keep their sources limited while studying. My notes, newspapers, and practice answer writing helped me a lot besides the books.”
Shruti Sharma has made her parents proud and is an inspiration for many female aspirants for Civil Services. This year, 685 candidates have been shortlisted for IAS, IPS, IFS and other administrative and civil services.
