My Nonprofit Reviews

Hello SDEF Team,
My name is Balbir Prasad, and I am pursuing my Bachelor of Technology at IIT(ISM) Dhanbad. I will be graduating in 2024 (June). Let me start with a bit of background of myself. I was born and did my primary schooling at my village government school ('Rajkiye Madhya Vidyalaya, Nagri"), where I studied till 6th standard. As I see it today, I was nowhere in terms of my knowledge of what a 6th-standard student usually can do. My father runs a shop in the local market, and my mother is responsible for working out with housing works (that's a great responsibility!). But even when my parents barely completed their 10th standard, they aspired that they would educate their children no matter what. So, they somehow managed to send me to my 'Bua' (my father's sister), who was living in Kolkata, and there I got admitted to WBBSE-based government school, and this was my turning point. I got perfect friends and teachers from which I was inspired to prepare for JEE. After completing my 10th from here, my brother (who has just started his work after completing his diploma from GP Polytechnic Dhanbad, took a loan and sent me to Kota) I had tears looking at his support towards me. I became more determined to get good learning and get as good as good college for my engineering. In Kota, I felt my interest in learning Physics. I managed to get into ISM Dhanbad (in Mining Engineering Department). This was where I learned entirely new experiences and skills from the professors and students. This summer in 2023, I got Undergraduate Summer Research Internship at IISc Bangalore, where I got the opportunity to do R &D work for a transportation network and its optimization. While writing this review, I am attending my 7th-semester classes and aspiring to work at the intersection of physics and computer science. So this was my brief story.
Last semester I learned about SDEF scholarships and How this scholarship helps students pursue their dreams with financial support, so I applied, thinking this would lower the burden of spending my brother on my education here at ISM. I attended the meeting where Ashutosh Garg Sir (coordinator of SDEF ) shared his story, which motivated me that I can also do better and should help people in need as much as possible. I interacted with him in 1-1 meetings, which was an overwhelming feeling for me. Finally, I was selected for the "Smt. Shyam Lata Garg Scholarship" and couldn't 'be happier.
At my last, I would like to say as SDEF has helped me during my academics, I would love to help to needy in any possible way in the future. Nonetheless, I volunteer at Kartavya ( an official IIT(ISM) NGO which provides free quality education to nearby village students ), where I go to the center of Kartvya to teach physics once a week. I love interacting with the students there, and it reminds me of my school days in my village, "Nagri" (Koderma, Jharkhand ).
Thank you.
With kind regards,
Balbir Prasad.
Email: 20je0246@me.iitism.ac.in