18-year-old Soyeb Aftab topped this year’s NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) clinching a perfect 720 out of 720.
The national-level examination paves way for admission to the undergraduate medical courses and Soyeb, who hails from Odisha’s Rourkela, aced the test with golden scores. He wants to be a cardiologist once he completes his studies.
There is no doctor in my family, so I didn’t expect this. I had hoped to make it to top 100 or top 50 but I never expected to score 720/720. The exam was being postponed, so there was a lot of pressure. But the goal was to stay calm & utilise time: Soyeb Aftab, #NEET2020 topper pic.twitter.com/9WA6u3NPW3
— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2020
He credited his parents for the success, saying he never expected to bag the first rank in the medical entrance exam even though he was optimistic about the results.
‘I will like to give all the credit to my mother who motivated me to aspire for being a doctor and stood by me all along,’ he said, reported The Hindu.
Speaking about the preparation and attending the exam in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainties surrounding it, Soyed said the days had its challenges but the lockdown gave him an opportunity to stay persistent and study even harder.
‘I haven’t gone back to my hometown since 2018. I studied around 10 to 12 hours every day,’ said Soyeb. ‘I stayed in Kota with my mother and younger sister to study,’ he said, according to NDTV.
The publication further reported that while most of the students in Kota petitioned to return to their homes during the lockdown, Soyeb had made up his mind to stay put and continued his coaching classes.
‘I want to work for economically weaker sections in the society. I want to motivate youngsters so they can work hard and be of use to our nation,’ he said.
Delhi’s Akansha Singh also surmounted the odds to register a historic perfect 100% in the medical entrance examination.
They topped the list of the more than 7.7 lakh students who qualified for medical and dental counselling this year.
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