The ABC Secret of Success: An Engineering Student’s Success Story with Analytics

Niharika is currently pursuing her master's in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science (DACSS) in the U.S.A. Her journey to get there wasn't an easy one. But with the support of her mother, a few colleagues and a Glow & Lovely Careers Scholarship, she fulfilled all her dreams. Here's her success story:

As Niharika would say, her entire life has been a journey filled with obstacles. She was born into a financially struggling family with an alcoholic, abusive father. By the 5th grade, Niharika was forced to join a Telugu-medium school as her mother could no longer afford the fees. Luckily for her, the government had passed a law stating that classes from 6th grade onward would be taught in English. She mentioned that joining a Government School was a huge turning point in her life. She was provided with many opportunities to learn and grow. Niharika excelled in school - She participated in various competitions, was a state-level hockey player and was awarded the best cadet in the NCC. In 9th grade, her father succumbed to a heart attack. Instead of getting her married or forcing her to leave her studies and work, her mother became the driving force in her life.

Her brilliant marks (9.7/10 CGPA) and all-rounder skills paved the way for her to join the Electronics and Communications Engineering at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Basar, Telangana, under government scholarship. She submitted two projects to NASA in her first year, receiving honourary mentions. But her scholarship fell through, and she was threatened with expulsion if she couldn't come up with the fees (INR50K). When nothing else seemed to work, she came across the Buddy4Study Scholarship network, a Glow & Lovely Careers partner. After listening to her story and achievements, Glow & Lovely Careers knew she deserved to let her light shine. Such talent needed to be given a chance to grow. She was awarded the Glow & Lovely Scholarship, which helped her pay her fees and continue her education.

As a kid, Niharika was inspired by the 'Road Not Taken', So even when nothing seemed to go her way, she persevered to make her dreams come true. It did not matter to her what others would think - which is why she chose a career completely different from her stream - arithmetic and logical reasoning trainer, she helped many undergrad students become placement ready. In addition, Niharika always wanted to give back to society and decided to help make India a better place for girls like her. Hence, she joined the innovation fellowship of Telangana State Innovation Cell, which works toward creating a culture of innovation in the state from all backgrounds. Niharika considers TSIC as her second family; they helped her apply to the University of Massachusetts to pursue her master's after her mother's demise. She is deeply grateful to Dr Shanta Thoutam, the Chief Innovation Officer of TSIC, for her support.. Niharika has won the student elections and was recently announced as a Graduate Student Senate officer (Treasurer) and also works as her department's communications manager.

NFT stands for "non-fungible token." A digital asset that can't be changed or copied is called a "non-fungible token." You can think of these tokens as digital versions of pieces of art from a private collection. Each work of art in the collection is unique and has its own price.

Like a piece of art, an NFT can be sold for either crypto or cash. But, just like with bitcoin, the asset transfer for the token is recorded in the blockchain. This shows who the owner of a certain NFT is. NFTs are digital works that have been turned into securities, such as famous videos, paintings, memes, and so on. This tokenized work of art comes with a unique digital ownership certificate that can be sold or bought online. Blockchain technology is what makes them work, just like cryptocurrency.

Each NFT is linked to the digital or, in some cases, a physical asset of the original owner. Technically, you can turn any digital object into an NFT. The great thing about NFTs is that anyone can make them out of famous tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram photos, and more and sell them.

You might be wondering why people spend so much money on something that can't be seen or touched, like NFTs. You may also be wondering how people make money from NFTs since they are just pictures. We'll talk more about that below.

The value of an NFT is based on how interested consumers are in it, just like it is with the works in our made-up art collection. Just like with trading cards, their value is mainly based on how rare they are and how many people want to buy them.

Even though an image can be turned into an NFT, there is no rule that says it can't be copied or shared. But the blockchain stores and makes it clear who owns the asset. This makes it impossible to fake who owns NFTs. One of the main things that drive its value is the happy feeling of being the only owner. Most of the time, people make money and increase the value of their NFTs by selling them.

You can make money with NFTs if you buy smartly and sell later. For example, buyers can bid on Amitabh Bachchan's NFT collection when it goes up for auction in November. They might be worth more in the future. You can make money with NFTs if you buy and sell them at the right times. You can also make your own digital art, video or audio clips, and music as NFTs and sell them if you are a musician or a beginning painter.