Dubai: The son of an Indian farmer has secured a 100 per cent scholarship seat, in New York’s Cornell University — one of the eight Ivy League Universities in the United States. Indian Twitter users are congratulating the young student, Anurag Tewari, from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, for achieving the feat, and scoring 98.2 per cent in his class 12 exams, too. Many said his story was an example of how hard work truly pays off.
Twitter user @meGauravDwivedi posted: “Proud moment for people who believe in hard work and grit! Congrats to Anurag Tewari who has proved himself, and shines. All the best…”
Anurag is the son of Kamlapati Tewari, a farmer, and his wife Sangeeta Tewari, a homemaker. According to an Indian news report, till four years ago, Anurag’s village didn’t even have electricity. After attending primary classes in a village school, Anurag qualified an entrance test for a rural leadership academy, which handpicks economically underprivileged meritorious students from rural UP.
The humanities student who scored between 95 and 100 in all subjects in his class 12 board exams this year, reportedly said: “My decision to study humanities was questioned by many who felt it was not suitable for boys.”
He started preparing for the SAT entrance exam (used by most US colleges and universities to make admissions decisions), when he was in class 11 and scored 1370 marks out of 1600. He then applied to Cornell as an ‘Early Decision Applicant’ and got the call in December 2019.
“Throughout the process, my school teachers helped me write the draft essays, preparing the projects. My essays were edited by senior counsellors in Delhi who even helped me choose the colleges,” he said, according to Indian news reports.
Anurag is now waiting for his online classes at Cornell to begin from September 1, and will study economics and mathematics at the university. Most American universities are currently holding virtual classes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a news report, Anurag’s father proudly said: “People who didn’t know me earlier came to my house just to talk to me. It gives me happiness. I thought of making my son successful, but today he has made me a successful father. He taught me so much in all these years.”
