Having secured 16 medals, a 22-year-old girl from Karnataka’s Raichur district has bagged the largest number of medals secured by any student of the Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology.

Bushra Mateen, a civil engineering graduate from SLN College of Engineering will be awarded her medals on March 10, when the Institute’s convocation has been scheduled. She also chose a rather unconventional steam of civil engineering which is perceived to be an option chosen mostly by male students only.

According to the VTU, the highest number of medals received by any student has been 13 previously.

However, despite the high scores she secured, Mateen did not participate in the college’s placement drive as she is preparing to appear for the civil services exams.

She said that she has been aspiring to work for the government since the start. “When I started with the course, I wanted to work for the government as that is the best place to work as a civil engineer. Later, I realized I wanted to go for UPSC as it provides a bigger canvas to serve the country,” said told TOI.

She added that she had begun preparations for the same since November. Although Mateen wanted to pursue computer science engineering, she took up the civil engineering branch to realise her father’s dream of getting a civil engineering degree. Her father holds a diploma in the same.

“It is not right to believe that civil engineering is only for boys. There were 23 out of 70 girls in my class alone,” she said.

Source: TOI

Also read: Famous hijab-wearing personalities around the world