22-year-old Tina Dabi from Delhi has topped the prestigious Civil Services Examination 2015, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). This was her very first attempt at UPSC and it’s a big feat achieved.

• A political science student, she graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in 2014. no points for guessing that her optional for the CSE 2015 was Political Science.
• The topper has chosen Haryana as her prefered cadre. She said that she always wanted to work in a challenging state – one of the main reasons behind her choosing Haryana.

“We all know the sex ratio of girl and boy child is quite less and that is why I would like to contribute my efforts for the empowerment of women there.”

“I opted for Haryana because it presents such an interesting example, where you have a lot of economic progress but when it comes to social indicators you are lagging behind, and that is a very big paradox.”

• Both her parents are Indian Engineering Service (IES) officers. She completed her schooling from the Convent of Jesus and Mary, opting for humanities in Class XI, by which time she had also started seriously considering attempting the civil services examination

“You feel lonely and you feel depressed because this is such a difficult exam. Other parts of your life become almost non-existent, so patience I think is also key.”