APJ Abdul Kalam said, “You have to dream before your dreams can come true.” Believing in this very idea, Vaibhav Chadha, an alumnus of DU, has brought laurels to the University. A student at Campus Law Centre, DU, Vaibhav has been selected for the prestigious Chevening Scholarship offered by the UK government.
Chevening Scholarship is the UK government’s global programme, which provides an opportunity for future leaders to study in the UK. The Scholarship provides an opportunity to study a fully funded LLM programme for a year at the Queen Mary University of London.
A Commerce grad from Ramlal Anand College, DU, Vaibhav has intense love for theatre and is a good player of basketball. While pursuing Law at the Campus Law Centre, DU, he was actively involved as a student activist in raising the demands of students. This was the time when he realized leadership qualities within himself. At the same time, he learned about various LLM programmes in UK and researched on different scholarships programmes available across the world.
“It was in mid-February that I received a mail from Chevening informing that I have been shortlisted for the interview. I attended my interview which took place at British High Commission, New Delhi and after a long await of few months, I finally received a mail on 1st of August this year confirming that I have been awarded a Chevening Award”, speaks Vaibhav while sharing his Scholarship journey.
“That moment when I received this mail, cannot be explained in words, I was partying with my friends as one of my friend was going to London for some academic purpose and we were supposed to see him off at the airport. I was numb and speechless for a few minutes, I had tears in my eyes and after sometime I realized yes, I got it. On that day, I reached home late but did not tell my parents about it. It was after a week that I told them about it and they were too excited and happy with my achievement”, he adds.
Chevening awards this scholarship to a small number of students. From India every year about 50 students get selected. Therefore, the biggest challenge Vaibhav had to face was to write his application in a manner, which was acceptable as per the requirements of the Chevening and was a reflection of his real personality. Besides, he had to perform well in the interview as it plays a significant role in the final selection process, which he was able to cross successfully.
For young aspirants of scholarships, Vaibhav advices that being honest in expressing one’s achievements and real goals, do help an individual in winning competitive scholarships.
He has the opinion that many people try to receive scholarships by stating false statements about themselves or try to inflate their achievements. I think this, being a wrong path, should not be chosen for approach towards any scholarship. “In my application I wrote about myself, my achievements, my career aspirations and how this scholarship was going to help me grow”, he comments.
Through his journey of success, Swami Vivekananda and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam have been driving source of inspiration. “I have read about these two great men and they always would remain an inspiration. While Swami Vivekananda always preached about facing every situation strongly and believing in ourselves, Dr. Kalam’s life in itself is an inspiration. He came from a poor family in Rameshwaram but believed in himself and with his hard work and dedication went on to become the one of the most respected President of India“, Vaibhav comments. He argues that Swami Vivekananda’s quote- “You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself”, should be an inspiration for every youth”, is an idea quote for every youth.
Talking to Campus Chronicle, Vaibhav shares his idea of success and comments- “My idea of success is simple and short – “Dreams do come true, chase them.”
