Priyanka Nasta gradutes as Electronics and Electrical Engineer with 87% marks

Priyanka Nasta possibly became the first Bhagnari girl to become an Engineer, when she graduated from BITS Pilani, Dubai, securing 87% marks.

Daughter of Niranjan and Nandini Nasta, she narrates her feelings in the write-up below, which has been reproduced un-edited. Bhagnari community salutes Priyanka and hopes that her achievement will inspire many more Bhagnari girls to take the lead.

3 September 2005 – I feel almost certain that this date is of little consequence to any of the readers. But for me, it was one date which would stay in my mind for a long time to come. After all, it was my first day at BITS Pilani, Dubai. From the very start of the day, the weirdest thoughts began flashing in my head ranging from what I would wear, to how would I locate my classroom, to how the people would be and even to what I would eat through the day (yeah…I do think about food quite a lot!).

As expected, the first day of college was not rocking, rather it was…on the rocks. Some of the reasons for this were the over-powering seniors, snobbish boys, scary professors and lack of girls in the campus (only 8 students out of 60 were girls!). My thought at the end of the day was, how will I get through four years in this place?

The first year seemed a little difficult, both in terms of studies and adjusting with the people. In the study area, the difficulty was that most of the courses were self study, and unlike in India, there are no private coaching classes in Dubai universities. Hence the challenge lied in trusting my ability and guiding myself towards a good score. As far as the people were concerned, many of them came from India and just like me, they were discovering new people…and a new place!

However, by the beginning of the second year, things became more comfortable. I got used to the study pattern and also became quite attached to my classmates. In addition to compulsory courses like Math and Physics, I also read courses in Technical Report Writing, Marketing and Management, which I feel are very important and useful in the corporate world. In addition to this I also did an internship for two months with an electrical based company, which gave me a clear insight on how office life would be.

The third year was when I had to study hardcore Electrical courses (my major being Electronics and Electricals). It was by far the toughest year in college as I had many lab sessions to complete and many assignments to turn in. But the mall outings and shopping sprees with friends acted as major stress busters (in fact, I think I know Mall of the Emirates inside out because of this!).

The fourth year was when I enjoyed college the most. Practice School II with Zio Technologies LLC was on the agenda for the first semester and a study oriented project was up in the second. I also attended two farewell parties hosted by our juniors and the University staff. Also, knowing that it was the last year of college made me do things I wouldn’t have done otherwise, like participating in debate, elocution and even a salad dressing competition (came first in it…by the way!).

17 August 2009 – I feel certain that this date too is of little consequence to any of the readers. But it has been etched in my mind forever. After all, it was my Graduation day. I met all my friends and faculty after a long time and it was the best feeling to see all the students in graduation robes and hats. It would be wrong not to mention the love, support and encouragement provided by my parents and my brother Mohit. I’m told that I am probably the first Bhagnari girl to become an engineer, and if this is true, I owe it all to my family.

So watch out people, there is a new Electronics and Electrical Engineer around. Brace yourselves, because in these days of Unique Identification Numbers, 2005A3PS218U (my college ID) has finally arrived – and thank God for that – WHAT A THOUGHT SIR JI…