Studying abroad can be financially challenging for many meritorious students who often opt out due to the expensive course fee, visa charges, accommodation and food expenses. Therefore, scholarships help many to pursue their dreams.
News18 ‘Scholarship Guide’ brings the best and most prestigious grants for Indian students to study abroad, with most of them covering flight tickets, accommodation and course fee; and some also providing stipend.
Married off at the age of 21, Lavi Batra Jaggi is giving a second chance to education after 10 years. At 31, she is a mother to a four-year-old and will now purse masters in fintech from the University of Essex. Her husband, who has quit his job as a cybersecurity expert, will move along with Lavi to the UK in September.
But how did Lavi manage all this? She secured the university’s Academic Excellence Grant, which offered her a rebate of £4,000, which will be deducted from her total fee of £21,000.
Lavi took the decision to continue her education after spending two years in lockdown. “I got into an arranged marriage. While I continued my job as a banking professional. Me and my husband wanted to build a brand of our own. We dreamt about it and started small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures now and then. It was the lockdown which gave us time to reassess what we were doing with our life. That is when I decided to give education another chance.”
On choosing fintech – an emerging but mostly male dominated field – Lavi said she had witnessed many women leaving their job after marriage or having children. She, however, wanted to change the norm. The gender disparity at workplace, she said, pushed her to advance her skills.
“Every grey area is an opportunity to rise. If I had not been in a male dominated field, I would never have thrived to prove myself to be the best. Being a finance professional, working in the banking industry for a decade and facing disparity added fuel to my fire to hone my skills and be the best. Thus, I started looking for opportunities to upgrade myself. I ended up finalising fintech as my ladder to success,” Lavi told News18.
Talking about the gender inequity she said, “It happens at the small levels. A female had to explain her going off to home at shift end. Girls miss the networking opportunity that happens at evening hours, if they have social obligations. This negatively impacts their career.”
She too had doubts about her job after having a child, however, she had to change her ideology of what being a ‘perfect mom’ means to get over the self-inflicted pressure. “There is nothing called a perfect mom and I had to relearn that. Maintaining work-life balance comes with time but one has to keep trying and never give up. I thought about discontinuing work after my child was born but the only thought that kept me going irrespective of circumstances was if I would want my daughter to give up all her dreams and aspirations once she is a mom, and the answer was a clear no. So, I continued working so my daughter never has to restrain herself from achieving what she deserves because of societal norms or thoughts.”
Her decision to move abroad was “most difficult”, she says. However, having a scholarship to fund her studies and a supportive husband is what made the process easy, she said.
“My family was very emotional and reluctant to send us abroad. But they were also aware of the things we (her and her husband) wanted from our own life and the future we were looking for ourselves and our daughter. Our dreams could not be restricted to boundaries of a country. So, they changed their stance and now support our decision.”
Scholarship Journey
The academic excellence scholarship was granted based on the academic performance of Lavi. This included her marks in school as well as her graduation. The scholarship option reflected at her university’s application portal. She, however, submitted a statement of purpose.
In her SoP, Lavi said she wrote about who she is and what her aspirations were in life and how the MSc Fintech will be helpful in bridging the gap.
She believes that being a north zone topper in her school and maintaining a decent CGPA throughout her college and having a consistent job bumped up her profile.
“Had I not received a scholarship, I would run an extra mile and had stretched myself more. But leaving this opportunity was never an option. I have invested all my life savings on this,” she added.
Now she aims at landing a job amongst the Big 4 after her graduation, however, her long-term goal is to be an entrepreneur and “set an example for other girls to unleash their potential” at any age or stage of their lives.
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