In a small, remote village nestled in the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan, lived a girl named Aanya Khan. Her village was so far from the city that electricity was a luxury that came only for two hours each day — if at all.
Aanya was 14 years old when she decided she wanted to become a doctor. Her father worked as a farmer and her mother took care of the house and four younger siblings. There was no money for extra books, no coaching centers, and certainly no laptop or stable internet.
Every night, after finishing household chores, Aanya would sit under a small kerosene lamp, its flickering light casting long shadows on the mud walls. The smell of kerosene often gave her headaches, but she never complained. When the lamp ran out of oil, she used the weak torchlight of her old basic mobile phone.
During the freezing winters, when even the kerosene was hard to get, Aanya studied under the moonlight or by the light of a small candle. Her mother would often say, “Beta, your eyes will get weak.” Aanya would smile and reply, “If I don’t study now, my future will be in darkness, Ammi.”
When schools closed for three months due to heavy floods in 2025, many students gave up. But Aanya did not. She borrowed old textbooks from her teacher and walked two kilometers every day to a nearby town where a small cyber cafe allowed her one hour of free internet daily. She downloaded video lectures on her phone and watched them at night with earphones, volume low so she wouldn’t disturb her sleeping siblings.
She developed her own system. She would read a chapter, close the book, and explain it loudly to the walls of her room as if teaching an imaginary class. This method helped her remember everything. She solved every single exercise in her books and made short notes on whatever paper she could find.
Her biggest challenge came during the annual exams. While other students had proper lights, notes, and tuitions, Aanya had only her determination. In the board exams of Class 10, she scored 94.6% marks — the highest in her entire district.
When the result was announced, the whole village was shocked. The District Education Officer visited her home and asked, “How did you study without proper light and facilities?”
Aanya gave a simple answer: “I didn’t have light outside, but I had light inside my mind. That was enough.”
Her success opened many doors. She received a full scholarship for FSc Pre-Medical. Today, in 2026, Aanya is studying in one of the best medical colleges in Lahore. She still wakes up early and studies under a proper lamp — but now she also teaches free online classes to girls from her village who face the same struggles she once did.
Every month, she sends a part of her scholarship money back home. Her dream is to build a proper school with solar electricity in her village so that no other child has to study in darkness.
Moral of the Story: Circumstances can delay your success, but they cannot stop it if you have strong willpower and determination.