The Scholastic Aptitude Test and SAT Subject Tests are a suite of tools designed to assess a student’s academic readiness for admission into colleges and universities of the US, UK and Australia. These exams provide a path to opportunities, financial support and scholarships and the subject tests of SAT measure the skills of the students. And Likhit Nayak is probably the second student from Odisha to have cleared the SAT exams 2013 securing full marks, 3200/3200, combining all his core subjects, Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. A Class XII student of DAV Public School Chandrasekharpur, Likhit, all of 17, is all set to venture on his career that he plans to pursue in Biomedical Engineering.
“Biomedical Engineering is not offered in all Indian universities and colleges, which is why I appeared for SAT. I have got a seat confirmation from Georgia Tech university, Atlanta, US. But I am not yet sure if I would go abroad to study or continue with an MBBS here after which I can get into a specialised course of my choice,’’ says Likhit who has also represented the State in Table Tennis tournaments.
For someone who concentrates on studies for six-seven hours a day, SAT was not very tough to crack. ‘’I might be one of the very few students to clear it with full marks, but since it is a conceptual test, I was clear in basics and concepts which is why I could score well,’’ the student says who has been academically strong since his childhood. Completing matriculation with a 96.5 per cent score, Likhit joined DAV for his Class XII. It was his Biology teacher in the school who was instrumental in developing an interest in Likhit towards the subject and he opted for Biology as one of the core subjects for SAT. “I don’t want to concentrate only on Engineering. I would rather combine Medicine and Engineering.’’ This notwithstanding the fact that he has cleared the JEE 2014 with a score of 190 and will be appearing for the advanced test to qualify for IITs.
Likhit is also a Kishor Vaigyanik Puraskar Yojana (KVPY) awardee. KVPY is a scholarship program funded by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India. He spends free time with friends, surfs the net and develops computer games. While his mother works with Infosys, Likhit’s father is the director-administrator of Silicon Institute of Technology. Ask him about what he intends to do ahead in his career and pat comes the reply, “Research. I am a research-oriented person and will continue studying as much as possible, be it in India or abroad. Right now it’s difficult to choose a specific career option, but I will join an institute that offers me scope to continue research.’’
kasturi@newindianexpress.com
