A couple of days ago, IAS officer Nitin Sangwan shared his class 12 CBSE mark sheet of 2002 on Twitter. Sangwan had scored just 24 in Chemistry -- the marks needed to pass.
Needless to say, his marksheet went viral.
With the season of board results here and students going through a rollercoaster ride of emotions, Nitin’s marks card came like a beacon of hope, especially for those who had fared not so well and were going through anxiety.
Ever since he posted it, the kind of response he been receiving has been tremendous.
“So many students and parents opened up on Twitter and social media. It’s good to see some of them taking the story positively,” says Nitin who is based in Ahmedabad.
On what prompted him to share his marks card on social media, he says,
“I have been seeing many relatives and knowns getting worked up over marks of their wards. It reminded me of my old days and I thought I should cheer up some of them.”
Recalling how he motivated himself to be in the civil services after his ‘not so good’ performance in Chemistry, he says, “It was a long time since then. Ten years to be precise when I decided to take the plunge. I had so many facets of life till then and I was pretty confident of taking this path. I am never too bothered about the past and that helped,’’ he says.
Explaining the importance of scores in a student’s life, he says “marks are important because they are one of the ways to benchmark.”
“We have, definitely, very few ways to evaluate performance. My post didn't mean to undermine marks, I just want to drive home the point that it is not a big deal to fail or perform less than expectation. One should learn from failings and move on in life,” he says.
For those who haven’t scored well, he has an advice.
“Don't give up. Life doesn't stop at a result. It is much beyond that. In hindsight, poor scores will appear as a single dot in a long journey,” he says.
And for students who want to be in his shoes, he says, “Work harder. There is no substitute to that.”