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Meet 17-year-old Swega: A TN farmer's daughter who won Rs 3 crore scholarship in a top US university!

By alagu, 22 December, 2021
Tamilnadu, Chicago, United States, Scholarship

For 17-year-old Swega, it's now from Chennimalai to Chicago but her journey of winning a scholarship from a top university in the other end of the globe is as hard as it inspires the younger generation. She has achieved what remains to be an ecstatic dream for many global students - the gates of the University of Chicago, one of the world's most prestigious varsities, are now open for her to pursue her undergraduate education with a full scholarship, worth Rs 3 crore.

The ticket for Chicago will be a remarkable feather in Swega's cap and her admission has now relished her entire family and the village in Tamil Nadu. Swega is the daughter of Swaminathan, a farmer and she is a native of Kasipalayam village near Chennimalai in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu. Her mother Suganya is the homemaker and Swega will be the first graduate in her family and her graduation will now be awarded by the University of Chicago, which has produced several global leaders, noble laureates, and entrepreneurs. 

Swega had studied at a private school in Chennimalai and while she was in her class 10, she was inspired by a message from Sharad Sagar of Dexterity Global that a student can study science and research at the University of Chicago under the scholarship. She had then expressed her interest to pursue the scholarship at Chicago to study an undergraduate course. At the age of 14, she was identified and groomed by Dexterity Global. 

She had received intense training under Dexterity Global's leadership development and career development programmes. While studying Class 12 online, she had undergone the training and completed it in an effort to enter the prestigious institute. Following the completion, she had applied for a four-year course at the University of Chicago under scholarship. Days after she moved her application, she had received a confirmation that she has won the scholarship programme in the university and that she can pursue education at a free-of-cost. 

Swega is planning to study biology and become a scientist. According to reports, a full scholarship of Rs 3 crore, which was offered a few days ago, will cover Swega's entire cost of study for four years - tuition, room and board, books and supplies, health insurance, personal and travel expenses. Sharad Sagar of Dexterity Global has also shared the news of Swega's scholarship on social media. 

He wrote, "This is huge!! A 17-year-old Dexterity to College fellow from Erode in Tamil Nadu, the daughter of a small farmer, Swega has been accepted to the University of Chicago, one of the top 10 universities in the world on a full scholarship worth Rs 3 crores." Swega had expressed her happiness over the achievement of winning the scholarship and credited Sharad Sagar and Dexterity Global behind her achievement. 

Swega said, "My father is a small farmer and my mother is a homemaker. I grew up in a small village of Tamil Nadu where girls are married off by the time they reach my age. They don't get to see what a college looks like. And by God's grace, I will have the privilege of studying at the institution on a full scholarship, it is an emotional moment for me and my parents. I promise to use my education to help build a better India. This wouldn't have ever been possible without the support and mentoring I received from my mentors at Dexterity Global, especially the founder Sharad Sagar sir," 

"Dexterity not only enabled me to dream big but also equipped me with the right resources to turn those dreams into reality. For the last two years, Dexterity has been my home and my greatest hope and I couldn't have been entered the University of Chicago without Dexterity", Swega added. On her victory, Sharad Sagar said that Swega is going to one of the world's greatest institutions - one that is home to over 100 Nobel laureates. Sagar added that Swega is a true role model for young girls in small towns and villages in India and around the world. 

Dexterity Global was started in 2008 by Sharad Sagar as a platform to connect underprivileged students from rural or remote Indian towns and villages with global education opportunities. A social entrepreneur and expert for shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati, Sagar was 16 when he founded Dexterity Global and he was named by Forbes in its coveted '30 Under 30' list. 

 

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