When Neelu lost her father a few years ago, the loss changed the course of her life—and gave new meaning to a dream she had been working toward for years.

“Losing my father was very painful, but it also gave me a purpose. I want to become a cardiologist so that I can help people who do not have access to timely medical care.”

Today, that dream is closer than ever.

Neelu recently passed India’s highly competitive National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) and is preparing to apply to medical colleges. She also earned the prestigious Vahani Scholarship, which will cover her tuition and other expenses throughout her higher education. She is one of just 50 students selected from thousands of applicants across India.

Her journey to this moment began many years earlier at Prerna Girls School, an initiative of Mona's longtime partners at Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF) in Lucknow, India.

Neelu enrolled at Prerna in kindergarten and quickly distinguished herself as a bright and determined student. Her academic performance later earned her a scholarship to Study Hall, where she continued her education beginning in Class 11 while simultaneously preparing for NEET.

Even as her family navigated the loss of her father and her mother worked as a house help to support them, Neelu remained focused on her education. She graduated with 94% in her Class 12 examinations—an extraordinary accomplishment while preparing for one of India’s most competitive entrance exams.

Her mother has been a constant source of encouragement along the way. So, too, has the educational community that has surrounded Neelu since she was a young child.

“Neelu has been a sincere, hardworking, and focused student,” said Meenakshi Bahadur, Principal. “Despite the challenges at home, she remained committed to her studies and never gave up on her dream.”

For Dr. Urvashi Sahni, founder of SHEF, Neelu’s journey reflects something at the heart of Prerna’s approach: when girls have access to quality education and the support to pursue their own aspirations, possibilities expand.

Neelu is now preparing for the next chapter—medical college and, she hopes, a future in cardiology. But her ambition reaches beyond earning a degree or building a career. It is rooted in an experience that changed her own family and in a determination to make something different possible for others.

“I want to become a cardiologist so that I can help people who do not have access to timely medical care.”

For a girl who first walked through Prerna’s doors as a kindergartener, that future is now within reach.

SHEF'S Prerna Girls School in Lucknow educates 1,200 girls from low-income families through grade 12, using a social justice-based pedagogy that teaches each student to see herself as an equal and autonomous person and to build the skills she needs to challenge the conditions shaping her life.