Meet woman who quit high-paying job to crack UPSC CSE 2023 at age of 24, got AIR 18, her first choice isn't IAS but...

Some people change their career fields but that doesn’t mean that they are confused instead it states that they are confident enough to take risks in life.

One such inspiring success story is of Noida resident Wardah Khan, who quit her corporate job to prepare for UPSC, by securing the 18th rank in the UPSC exam 2023 in the prestigious exam, results of which were released on Tuesday by the UPSC.

The 24-year-old UPSC qualifier says she has chosen the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) as her first choice and aims to make the country proud on global platforms.

“Like every other aspirant, when we start our journey we dream of finding our name on the result list. But getting into the top 20 was unimaginable, I had not imagined to be able to be in the top 20. It’s a dreamy feeling right now. Everybody in my family is very happy and beaming with pride,” Khan told PTI.

“I have opted for Indian Foreign Service (IFS) as my first preference, so I would like to further the image of India across global platforms and multilateral institutions and help our Indian diaspora abroad,” she added.

A resident of Vivek Vihar in Noida’s Sector 82, Khan pursued her Bachelors in Commerce (Honours) from the Khalsa College of Delhi University. The only child of her parents, she lives with her mother. Her father passed away nine years ago.

On how she got inclined towards UPSC, Khan said that during her college days, she always had an interest in geopolitics, in subjects such as history and polity.

She used to participate in debates and MUNs (mock United Nations) during her college days but even then the idea of taking up civil services as a career path had not come to her.

It was during her job tenure that Khan realised she wanted to become a civil servant.

“I worked for a corporate firm for eight months. That didn’t sort of satisfy me. I wanted to give back to the society and wanted to work for my country and transform the lives of the people,” she said.

I prepared at home but also took online coaching from a private institution for one complete year, she added.