Saeeda, a student of M.D.S. in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, has reached where she is today after facing many hurdles in life. She is presently enrolled at Pacific University in Udaipur.

Saeeda’s journey began in a small village in Gujarat, in a scenario where girls’ education was not encouraged. She moved to a boarding school to pursue her senior secondary education. From a very early age, she realized that things would not be easy for her, especially because she was a girl. She recalls how her health problems since an early age proved to be a hurdle in making friends or playing outdoors. However, nothing could stop her.

Her father was often advised by relatives and others not to let their daughter study so much as they were eventually meant to go to a different home. However, her father, a dedicated and supportive parent, didn’t heed such a retrograde and regressive mindset. He had already made up his mind that all three of his daughters would study to the maximum.

On a lighter note, Saeeda remembers an incident from her school life when she was sent home early during school hours for some work, and when she returned to school, it was already over. Thinking that she had just returned from home and that her parents would ask why she had come back so early, she went and sat on the side of a lake. However, her parents thought that she was lost, and a whole paranoid situation was created.

Saeeda considers her parents her role models. Even in hardships and difficult times, her father always stood by her. Now, she wants to be a supportive pillar for them and help educate her sisters.

Saeeda feels both education and experience count in life because even if you gain experience but don't have education, you will not be able to achieve anything.

Talking about the COVID lockdowns, Saeeda says that she was stuck at home with her parents. As it was the first time she was spending so much time with her parents, it brought her closer to them. Professionally, it was a tough phase for her, but gradually things came back on track.

If Saeeda gets a time machine, she wants to relive her childhood and do things she could not do back then.

Saeeda’s dream is to be a motivation to other girls in her village and outside, to prove herself to those who have always criticized her and her father. Even though she faced a language barrier (being a Gujarati-medium student), she accomplished what she and her parents had decided.

Traveling, long drive rides, and sitting peacefully beside a lake are what she loves doing in her free time.