Excelling in the career while keeping a firm touch with our talents and hobbies is the dream of every student. We all wish to make it big but few manage to balance out time efficiently. One such inspiring case is that of Akanksha Choudhary, a 20-year-old model and winner of Miss India Elite 2016 who has recently joined the PGP programme at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad.
Choudhary participated in extra curricular and yet manage to hold the fifth rank among students of the batch at SRCC. While her focus is a degree in MBA, she has become a model by fluke.
After auditioning at a management institute, she was selected to contest in Miss India Elite, which she won last year. “I took part in the event just out of interest. I did not expect to win, let alone work as a model after that. Being a model has groomed me to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle and understand that the beauty lies in the values we inculcate in our lives. The rigorous routine of maintaining a healthy body and taking part in modelling events has even pushed me to manage my time wisely,” she said.
She participated in many events like India Showcase Week and Blenders Pride which involved a lot of travelling and working with celebrities including Salman Khan and Malaika Arora. To maintain a balance between her college and professional life, she minimised her sleep and studied while on the move.
With a prestigious college name like SRCC in her kitty, Choudhary didn’t turn complacent. She, in fact, worked hard to crack CAT 2016. “I aimed to study at IIM-A since I was in school. After bagging a seat at SRCC, I wasted no time and made sure to solve and practice questions on quantitative subjects. I joined coaching classes in my second year so that I could have a firm grasp of the basic concepts. Later, I participated in the test series at the coaching centre and use the material provided for self-study,” said she.
CAT has three sections — English, quantitative aptitude and logical reasoning. For the English section, Chaudhary relied on newspapers and solved questions even while travelling. She scored 98.12 percentile in CAT 2016.
They say no knowledge gets wasted. For Chaudhary, learning new things didn’t burden her but made her skills sharper. While many flunk at the interview round in the IIMs, she managed to impress the team. “I presented myself confidently. SRCC has helped in building my knowledge base but it was modelling where I learnt presentation skills,” said she.
But now after securing a seat in IIM-A, will she get time for her hobbies? “It’s all about time management. To be a model I need to be fit and healthy. So I exercise for one hour every day, follow a strict diet and take part in various events during the weekend. I spend my weekdays fully focused on studies and attending classes” said she.
In September, Chaudhary will represent India in Miss Face of Beauty International beauty pageant to be held in Delhi. She still prefers a management career over modelling. “I will never quit modelling because it keeps me fit but I also want to complete my educational goals. My dream is to become a niche consultant. So I want to learn how the entire corporate world works and climb the corporate ladder,” said she.
