Born and raised in the green hills of Pulwama district in Kashmir, in a sleepy village called Zagi Gam, 19-year-old Umer Ahmad Ganie grew up in poverty.

Umer and his brother started working at the young age of 16 to sustain their family. Despite being compelled to work, Umer, always a bright student, remained resolute about not abandoning his education.

“My village did not have a higher secondary school, so I joined a school in Pulwama. After completing high school, I decided to get a day job and earn money for my family,” he says.

Umer took up employment as a daily wage worker, primarily engaging in painting tasks.

Earning Rs 550 per day, he dedicated his income to cover the costs of his books and contribute towards providing food for his family. Despite the challenges, Umer persevered, never relinquishing his dreams.

Since high school, he aspired to become a doctor. “I would spend most of my time thinking about ways of getting out of this hard life of extreme physical labour. This motivated me to work hard towards my goal every day,” he shares.

While most of his family members slept, he would wake up as early as 3 in the morning to study.

“After school and work, I would return at 7 pm. Once home, I would not waste even a minute after that. I used to study till midnight and then get a couple of hours of sleep, then wake up to study some more,” he shares.

All the sleepless nights and hard days of labour paid off and Umer cracked NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) with an impressive score of 601 out of 720.

He also earned financial aid of Rs 10 lakh from the ed-tech startup Physics Wallah, enough to cover his counselling fees and college expenses.

Advising future aspirants Umer says, “The most important thing that every aspirant should keep in mind is to learn everything that the NCERT books offer. Many times, aspirants focus only on the notes got from coaching classes, but that will not cover everything.”