Destiny that was reshaped.

Sabin Pandey 

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”- Benjamin Franklin

The story of my destiny starts from 2010 when I got the news that I was selected for the Honourable Chief Minister’s Meritorious Scholarship Scheme. I must admit that I was neither excited nor happy back then. Which 11 year old kid feels happy when he has to go away from his home for the first time leaving his friends and family behind? However my parent’s happiness had no limits and that gave me a sense that I had achieved something big which they were proud of.

On 10^th of February, 2010 I was admitted to St. Xavier’s School, Pakyong with 10 other students from across the state. It was much difficult for us to cope up with the other students of the class. I cannot and will never forget the contributions of Rev father Jerad Lepcha who was the principal of the school back then. He provided us with extra classes and everything that we needed in order to compete with the rest of the students. After a year we flourished not only in academics, but also started to represent school in various inter-school competitions.

I was so amazed to see the kind of educational facilities we were getting. It was so different than that I used to have in my earlier school. The medium of instruction, the sports facilities, hostel environment, and the ambience of learning in St. Xavier’s was totally different. It wasn’t my dream becoming a reality for I had never even thought in my dream that I would get to study in such school. It was rather the dream and efforts of our visionary Chief Minister Shri Pawan Chamling bearing fruits.

The Chief Minister’s Meritorious Scholarship Scheme is a historic scheme and is perhaps one of its kind not only in our country, but the entire world. Presently there are more than 800 bright students studying in the best private schools across the country and the state. No doubt this scheme has proved to be a turning point in the life of these students and their  family, it has also reshaped their future and boosted their personality. Not only the students benefit from this scheme, but the entire family, village, state, nation and the world as a whole are the proud beneficiaries. Because these are the students who have been through the rags to the riches in terms of education and will definitely make enormous contributions to the society in the days to come.

I would like to thank the Honourable Chief Minister for his vision to transform our lives. We promise to make your vision fruitful.

(Editor’s Note: This is our second article in the series. In this series we are trying to bring out write ups contributed by the meritorious recipients of Chief Minister’s Merit Scholarship Scheme. This is a scheme envisioned by Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling to sponsor meritorious students completing their primary level education from Government Schools to pursue their further studies from reputed boarding schools, both within and outside the state.)

More in the Series: My Journey – From Sikkim to Scindia School.