Shreya Singhal did not let two failures come in the way of her UPSC journey. Instead, she used them as stepping stones to success. She failed twice in the civil services examination – first time in 2018 when she couldn’t clear prelims, and the second time when she couldn’t get pass the interview round. Yet she did not take these failures to heart and, instead, learned from them, improved herself and prepared for the final battle, which she won with aplomb. She aced the 2020 CSE exam with AIR 176 to make it to the list of IAS.
Today, Indian Masterminds takes a look at her inspiring journey.
ACED CSE AFTER TWO FAILURES
Hailing from Sarwasa, Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, Shreya Singhal cleared the toughest and prestigious examination of UPSC Civil Services exam in her third attempt with AIR 176. She is a chemical engineering graduate from Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur (MNIT). Shreya scored a total of 966 marks in CSE, including 206 in the personality test and 760 in the written test.
During her first attempt in 2018, she was unable to clear the prelims. In her second attempt in 2019, she reached the interview round but couldn’t make it to the final list of successful candidates. Finally, she cleared CSE 2020 with the high rank of 176. This was her third and final attempt and she made it in style.
After failing in her first attempt, Shreya had gone to Delhi and enrolled into the Jamia Residential Coaching Academy (RCA).
FAMILY BACKGROUND
Shreya’s father is a pharmacist and her mother is a homemaker. She also has three siblings. Her sister is a software engineer, and both her brothers are still studying. She comes from a joint family. She says, her cousins, who are working in private sectors, were very supportive and helped her both mentally and financially.
UPSC MOTIVATION
Shreya started getting interest in UPSC when she saw her college seniors preparing for the competitive exams. This is not the only thing that motivated her. She also appeared for UPPSC PSC without much preparation after her college, only to realise that she wanted to clear the prestigious CSE exam of UPSC, like few of her seniors.
In an interaction with media after her CSE success, she had said, “Before that, I did not have any idea about UPSC. It was when I saw some seniors studying and asked them about the exam that I realised that maybe it is an area where I will have an opportunity to help people and work for the betterment of the larger society.”
She also mentioned that one of her seniors, who is now in the forest services, mentored and guided her during the preparation.
BOOKS COVERED
“I personally covered many books, including Polity by M Laxmikanth, A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum, NCERT’s Geography, Mrunal’s study material for Economics and selected portions of environment by Shankar IAS Academy,” she revealed.
PREPARATION STRATEGY
She also revealed that she relied mostly on standard books and focused on revisions. On an average, she studied for 8-10 hours a day. She also focused on answer writing and believes in studying from single source and having multiple rounds of revisions. She says that this strategy helped her to ultimately clear the exam.
INTERVIEW ROUND
About her interview round, Shreya said, “As Saharanpur is popular for its wood carving industry, so I was asked about it and about the other famous places of the city. I was also asked about my hobbies which is Kathak dancing, and since my optional subject was international relations, I was asked about the UN and India-Africa relations.”
STAYING STRONG DESPITE FAILURES
As an officer, Shreya wishes to improve public amenities in towns and villages. “As I belong to a small town, I have seen how public amenities are not up to the mark. There is a scope for improving these facilities, including education. As a woman, I will be able to empathise with a lot of issues in the society and work positively in these sectors,” she said.
She believes that her three years of consistent hard work paid off ultimately. “It was a very long battle. It’s not a sprint, but a marathon. Staying strong, persevering through the difficulties, and working hard eventually brought me success.”
