Koothanur village in Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, is home to an ancient Saraswati temple. B.Dhivya’s home is in the street opposite to this temple. A frequent visitor to the temple, Dhivya is grateful that the Goddess of Learning has answered her prayers. She recently bagged a job with the Rane Group during a campus placement drive conducted at her college, Swami Dayananda College of Arts & Science, Manjakkudi, Tamil Nadu.
Dhivya, a BSc. (Chemistry) graduate from the college has been offered the role of executive trainee—HR (human resources) at Rane at an annual package of Rs. 1.8 lakhs. Her father, an ex-serviceman, died six months ago. Her elder sister, also a BSc. Chemistry graduate from the same college, is now pursuing her MSc. (Chemistry) from Stella Maris College, Chennai. Their mother is an English teacher at the Government Middle School, Maharajapuram, Tamil Nadu.
Dhivya did her schooling from three different schools. She completed her matriculation and higher secondary school from Sri Sankara Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Peralam, Tamil Nadu. In Class 12, Dhivya took science with computer science and scored 87%.
She was aware of the college at Manjakkudi as her mother had done a teacher training course at the campus sometime back. Recounting her college years, Dhivya says she entered a new environment when she first stepped into the Swami Dayananda College. “There was lot of focus on academics with our professors constantly inspiring and motivating us to reach out for the top. The subjects were made interesting with PPT (power point) presentations. We had random tests, weekly tests and internal examinations and model exams.”
But college years were not just restricted to academics alone. “We were encouraged by the staff to participate in many inter college festivals. Department level festivals were also organized to enable us to develop organisational and leadership skills.”
Dhivya was part of the NSS (National Social Service) while studying in college. She also bagged a second prize in an elocution competition held at the taluk level (Kodavasal).
Apart from academics and extracurricular activities, Dhivya made full use of her three years in college by enrolling in the IECD (Institute of Entrepreneurship and Career Development) programme at the Bharathidasan University, Pudur, Tamil Nadu. The Swami Dayananda College of Arts & Science, Manjakkudi, Tamil Nadu is affiliated to the Bharathidasan University. During her first year, Dhivya did a desktop publishing course under IECD while during the second year, she opted for a programme in Sanskrit. “During free periods, I always made it a point to take Sanskrit classes for the juniors at the college. Sometimes, a senior student–junior student connect is better. It leads to more ice breaker moments. I am glad that I could help motivate a lot of juniors and this exercise also helped me improve my confidence and communication skills.”
Dhivya has already set her sights on her future career. “I have started to prepare for the CAT (common admission test), the entrance examination for MBA at the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management). I would like to do an MBA at IIM-Trichy,” she says. Wishing her all the very best.
