PhD student at UNSW, Australia, Smruti Ranjan Jena talks about his life struggles and his plans to help his country

Smruti Ranjan Jena, an alumnus of  Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Subhash Nagar, Sunabeda, Koraput, Odisha is presently doing his  PhD at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The master's degree holder from IIT Guwahati recently shared his ambition, life struggles and the impact of his school in an interview, a brief extract of which has been shared below :
 

Interviewer: Since you are doing PhD, can you share some details about your academic background?

Smruti Ranjan Jena: I have been passionate about science since my school days and was a regular participant of science exhibitions. After completing my schooling from Saraswati Vidya Mandir, I did my Intermediate studies in Science at Aeronautics College, Sunabeda. My interest in physics and maths led me to pursue my Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from ITER, Bhubaneswar.  During this period I discovered my passion for research and joined IIT Guwahati for my Masters Degree. Currently I am pursuing my PhD at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.  

Interviewer:  Tell us about your journey from your hometown in Odisha to your present stay in Australia.

Smruti Ranjan Jena:  When I was a child, me and my family underwent a lot of hardships. At one point of time my father didn't have a job and he was struggling really hard to support our family and my education. Circumstances led by father to lose his job due to no fault of his and we were forced to change our home. The memory of those misery filled days are still fresh in my mind. This experience hardened by resolve and I vowed to make my parents proud. 

The struggle proved to be my life’s turning point and from that day onward I made gradual progress in my academic result. I received  NRTS scholarship in class 7 and secured 14th rank in district level in my 10th board examinations.  

After completing my intermediate studies, I wanted to go for IIT-JEE coaching, but financial constraints proved to be a major obstacle in my path and I ended up being in a private Engg. college to pursue my bachelor's studies. I decided not to pay attention to the setback and started studying with double dedication, so much so that I was labelled as a ‘nerd’ during my college days. 

I was able to secure a  good rank in the GATE exam (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) and cleared it in the first attempt with an AIR of 1105 among more than 2 lakhs candidates. This helped me to get into IIT Guwahati, which is considered as one of the top 7 premier institutions and the rest is history. The platform acted as a launchpad for achieving my career objectives. 

After finishing my masters with considerably good result, I got the chance to become a research assistant in an internationally renowned group at Australian National University to perform ocean and climate research. 

Interviewer: What made you choose ‘research’ as your career path?

Smruti Ranjan Jena: Since childhood, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been my inspiration and I learnt from his biography that a country can only progress further, if the youth of our country comes forward to accept the challenges facing our nation.  

Currently, in India, the challenge lies in providing a good research atmosphere. So, my objective is to spend quality time at the world's leading institutions, to learn as much as I can and then go back and improve the quality of research in my country utilizing the knowledge gained through my experiences.
 

Interviewer: Are you involved with any kind of social work?

Smruti Ranjan Jena:  I feel that giving back to the community is a responsibility that we all have as a human. It is import that we install the spirit of ‘social service’ among our children. 

During my college days I volunteered during ‘plantation week’ as I am quite passionate about environmental protection. During my Masters degree, I taught maths and science to underprivileged children, residing in slum areas in a project called “Zero Illiteracy Zone”. It is by far one of my greatest experiences. After relocating to Australia I became engaged with environmental conservation and event volunteering.
 

Interviewer: Did your school have any impact on your life?

Smruti Ranjan Jena: During my school days, we had been taught about the moral values that lies entrenched in our culture. This was one of the major reasons behind my inclination towards spirituality. The childhood stories about ‘Dharmapada’, ‘Aruni’, ‘Ekalavya’ etc.  helped me to form an attachment with the Indian culture. 

I was also fortunate enough to have some of the best teachers like Rajendra Guruji, Prafulla Guruji and Sankarshan Guruji from whom I have learnt a lot. I am deeply indebted to all of them, specially Rajendra guruji who taught me "Vedic Mathematics”. His lessons still helps me to perform a range of mathematical calculations without a calculator. I would like to give complete credit to all my teachers who helped me in shaping my career.

Interviewer: Are you in still in touch with your school? 
 

Smruti Ranjan Jena:  Yes, whenever I go back to Sunabeda, I make it a point to visit my school. Last year, my father donated a computer with the aim of supporting computer education in my school.

Interviewer: Would you like to give any message to Vidya Bharati students?

Smruti Ranjan Jena: Life is full of hurdles.  Time will often knock you down but be brave and never give up. No matter whether you win or lose, the courage to stick to the course is what counts. You will have distractions in your life, after all we all are human beings, but you should understand that you need to sacrifice your short-term pleasures if you want to achieve a long-term goal and do something good for your near-ones and for your country. 

Vidya Bharati Purv Chatra thanks Mr. Smruti Ranjan Jena for sharing his experiences with the community. 

If you are a Vidya Bharati alumni and like to share your story through our blog, kindly email us at info@vidyabharatialumni.org and we will get in touch with you.