BENGALURU: The story of the Karnataka Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) topper is fascinating. After scoring 96% in ICSE exams (class 10), Sanjana Rao picked the science stream in class 11 with a plan to take up engineering. But six months into the classes, she realised science was not her cup of tea. Five days before her second pre-boards in class 12, Sanjana decided to call it quits.
She left regular schooling in October 2021, enrolled in National Institute of Open Schooling and took up humanities subjects. Six months into studying a totally new subject, Sanjana scored 85% in class 12 and bagged the All India Rank 7 (Karnataka rank 1) in CLAT, whose results were announced late Friday night.
“When I started class 11, I was not enjoying science. Six months into the classes, I realised the subjects were not for me. So I started exploring other career options and found the subjects in law interesting. After joining coaching institute Career Launcher in class 11, I saw the subject matters and made up my mind,” said the Whitefield resident.
Sanjana said that class 11 mathematics helped her with the maths questions in CLAT. “The switch from science to humanities was a bit difficult as I had to start learning four new subjects all by myself. But I picked it up much more easily than what I would have done with science subjects in school. I played to my strengths. I was confident that I would have struggled with science had I gone forward. But here I was sure that if I put my heart into it, I could do it,” she said.
She said her passion for reading is what helped her choose law as a career option. “Law entails a lot of reading. As I went deep into it, my interest increased,” she said, adding that she is looking forward to her stint in NLSIU and the quality faculty it offers.
Prem Vinod Parwani, who gave the idea of NIOS to Sanjana, shares a similar story. Prem has bagged Karnataka rank of 4 and AIR 16. A Yeshwantpur resident, he had taken up commerce in I PU, but quit regular school, took up humanities and shifted to open schooling.
“The idea came when one of my friends joked that why should I come to school as I study in my own way. I took it seriously and researched on how I can study on my own. My parents were initially skeptical, but were soon okay with the idea,” he said.
‘Commerce was taxing’
Prem added: “Going to college took a lot of time due to travel and other activities. Commerce was more taxing than I thought it would be. Since class 8, I was clear that I wanted to do law. I took CLAT coaching from I PU, so I made the jump,” he said. Prem agrees that he missed the social life that school offered, but he had friends from Career Launcher to keep him company. Prem had secured All India rank 3 in LSAT, but was particular that he wanted to join NLSIU.
