Interview with Rachana Krishna - Best Outgoing Student of VIT

Gone are the days where Best Outgoing Student Award are honored to the student with Highest Grades. These days, student should be highly creative, exhibit exceptional effort and must make a huge difference.

"Outstanding achiever" is every student's dream. 

I had the opportunity to interview Rachana Krishna who has bagged the VIT's Best Outgoing Student Award. In this interview, lets dive deep into Rachana's journey as she shares her interesting student life.

I hope students as well as others will find many of the tips useful and motivating.

Congratulations on achieving Outstanding Student award. Could you please introduce yourself?

Hi, I'm Rachana. I'm from bangalore, born and raised here. I did my B.Tech in Computer Science from VIT. Currently I'm working at Cisco.

What was your priority when you were a student?
When I started off B.Tech I only wanted to enjoy my engineering life but soon realised my kind of enjoyment lies in many things, achievements, accomplishments and not mere entertainment. Priorities are never a constant they keep changing with time. At each instance I had to focus on what was most important at that time and move ahead with it.

What specific activities did you engage in college to achieve outstanding student award?
Firstly, I never compromised on my main virtue as a student that is being academically good. I learnt the subjects to the best of my abilities and maintained good grades. Grades only matter to teach you school lessons but life lessons are completely outside of it. So I involved myself in a number of activities. I was always inclined towards sports and adventures and decided to become part of our college trekking club. I had a flair for speaking and writing as well and hence became a core member of some clubs and chapters like the Hindu E-plus, VIT community Radio for a short period. As I knew my strength was in the manegerial line I started working for my college fests and events.

How about your extra-curriculum activities? 
As I already stated, I'm into sports. I used to be an athlete in school. I couldn't really continue that in college however I used to swim in college as a hobby, play badminton occasionally. I also hit the gym in the evenings. I went on a number of treks and even organised trips to places like Coorg and Kerala where I had my share of adventure+learning. I did white water rafting, waterfall rappelling, kayaking, rock climbing.

What pieces of advice would you offer to the students who aspires for "Outstanding Student"?
One has to know what he or she wants in their life and there is no bigger achievement than this. A person who knows what he wants will make sure to reach the goal. By life I don't always mean the big picture but even small goals will do. Goals as small as hitting the gym everyday. They keep you motivated in life. This motivation can achieve anything in life.

Who was your mentor/s in your college? 
To be honest I have been my greatest mentor all life., because only you know what you want in life. However, My mom is my support system. I have a best friend from school who is often my go-to person to share with.

What was one challenge you faced during college and how did you overcome?
During college it's very common to look at others and compare yourselves. This is not wrong as long as you get something good out of it. But if this is something that's pulling you down its high time you understand that each one lives their own lives. I did face a lot of competition and was at many instances motivated to do what others were doing. But not everything is for everyone. When ever I thought someone was doing something really nice in their life I took that as a motivation to do something in my life. Peer-pressure if a big challenge, but I used it for my benefit. And ofcourse because I stayed in the hostel, I missed home a lot. This can often pull people down, so did it pull me. But I always remembered why I was here and what I as supposed to do.

What was your daily routine as a student and now as an Employee?
As a student first half of my day would be spent in classes and assignments. Second half I would spend some time on myself, meeting friends, gym, netflixing. I'm an early bird so my day ends a little quick. So far my life as an employee hasn't really changed much as I am still an intern and have my trainings.

Share us a time where you broke a rule for a student?
Oh I'm not a person who breaks rules usually. I don't think I have broken any major rules. Except I didn't always have an ID card around my neck. So yeah this was one small rule I broke.

What is your philosophy of life? 
You take  your life decisions because nobody knows you better than you. Have goals, they keep you motivated in life. The only people who matter in life are those who keep you going, ignore the rest. Work hard, party harder. And yeah there is no substitute to hard work. I believe that there are a number of success stories with smart work, but there are no failure stories with hard work.

What are your current interest and what is your learning right now?
I want to move into entrepreneurship and finance now. I'm reading more on these.

All the best for your dreams and Thank you so much for your valuable time! 

Congratulations Once again Rachana!  You truly deserve the award!!  Good luck with Everything!!! Cheers.