<p>Mangaluru: Overcoming economic hardship and personal challenges, Sandhya N Maninalkur emerged as one of the top achievers at the 44th convocation of Mangalore University on Saturday, securing one gold medal and seven cash prizes in MA Kannada.</p><p>Coming from a financially struggling family, Sandhya balanced academics with labour from a young age. Her father, a daily wage worker suffering from severe pain in one hand, and her mother, who rolls beedis for a living, depended on every possible source of income. Sandhya herself began rolling beedis while still in Class 7 to support her family and continue her education. Her daily routine often included milking cows in the early morning and contributing to the household income in the evening by rolling beedi.</p>.N-Gen Post Office to be opened in Mangaluru's Surathkal on March 30.<p>Despite graduating in the science stream—Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics—Sandhya chose to pursue her passion for literature for Post Graduation. “It was my interest in literature and my love for writing poems and articles that pushed me towards Kannada,” she said. Transitioning from a science background to literature was initially difficult, but with guidance from her teachers, she successfully overcame the challenges.</p><p>Expressing gratitude, she credited her teachers, parents and younger sister for their unwavering support. While she has now paused beedi rolling to focus on her B.Ed studies, her mother continues the work to sustain the family. Sandhya, who has also taught at a college for a year, now aspires to pursue a PhD in Kannada, a dream strongly supported by her parents.</p><p>Another achiever, Fathima Shaloola from Uppala, secured two gold medals and three cash prizes in Master of Communication and Journalism. She highlighted the role of her teachers and family in overcoming institutional limitations and expressed her desire to pursue a PhD, noting the vast opportunities in the field.</p><p>As many as 162 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees (Arts- 40, Science- 92, Commerce- 25 and Education – 05) were awarded during the convocation. Out of 162 PhD candidates, 74(45.67 per cent) are women and 88 (54.32 per cent) are men, in this 10 men and one woman are foreign nationals. As many as 56 gold medals and 57 cash prizes were awarded to the students. There were 147 ranks, out of which 69 (PG - 50 & UG –19)are first ranks (Faculty of Arts- 17; Faculty of Science & Technology- 40; Faculty of Commerce- 08; Faculty of Education- 04).</p>
<p>Mangaluru: Overcoming economic hardship and personal challenges, Sandhya N Maninalkur emerged as one of the top achievers at the 44th convocation of Mangalore University on Saturday, securing one gold medal and seven cash prizes in MA Kannada.</p><p>Coming from a financially struggling family, Sandhya balanced academics with labour from a young age. Her father, a daily wage worker suffering from severe pain in one hand, and her mother, who rolls beedis for a living, depended on every possible source of income. Sandhya herself began rolling beedis while still in Class 7 to support her family and continue her education. Her daily routine often included milking cows in the early morning and contributing to the household income in the evening by rolling beedi.</p>.N-Gen Post Office to be opened in Mangaluru's Surathkal on March 30.<p>Despite graduating in the science stream—Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics—Sandhya chose to pursue her passion for literature for Post Graduation. “It was my interest in literature and my love for writing poems and articles that pushed me towards Kannada,” she said. Transitioning from a science background to literature was initially difficult, but with guidance from her teachers, she successfully overcame the challenges.</p><p>Expressing gratitude, she credited her teachers, parents and younger sister for their unwavering support. While she has now paused beedi rolling to focus on her B.Ed studies, her mother continues the work to sustain the family. Sandhya, who has also taught at a college for a year, now aspires to pursue a PhD in Kannada, a dream strongly supported by her parents.</p><p>Another achiever, Fathima Shaloola from Uppala, secured two gold medals and three cash prizes in Master of Communication and Journalism. She highlighted the role of her teachers and family in overcoming institutional limitations and expressed her desire to pursue a PhD, noting the vast opportunities in the field.</p><p>As many as 162 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees (Arts- 40, Science- 92, Commerce- 25 and Education – 05) were awarded during the convocation. Out of 162 PhD candidates, 74(45.67 per cent) are women and 88 (54.32 per cent) are men, in this 10 men and one woman are foreign nationals. As many as 56 gold medals and 57 cash prizes were awarded to the students. There were 147 ranks, out of which 69 (PG - 50 & UG –19)are first ranks (Faculty of Arts- 17; Faculty of Science & Technology- 40; Faculty of Commerce- 08; Faculty of Education- 04).</p>