Chandigarh, July 12 -- As many as 435 toppers from the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 batches received their medals in a ceremony organised by the Panjab University (PU) on Friday. Officials said that a total of 883 students were eligible to receive their medals and the medals for those who were absent during the ceremony will be sent to their respective departments. The convocation couldn't be held in 2020 and 2021 pertaining to Covid restrictions. While PU had earlier planned to give these medals in the 2022-23 session, it couldn't be done and had remained pending since then. During the convocation, 336 girls and 99 boys received the medals. As many as 235 toppers were from the 2018-19 batch, 226 toppers from the 2019-20 batch and 228 toppers from the 2020-21 batch. As many as 194 students also received endowment funds from the university. Rashmeet Banga, 28, who was the gold medallist of the MSc biochemistry batch in 2019 has switched to banking and works as the manager of the SBI Bank at Housing Chowk in Manimajra. Banga says that because of working in the city, she was able to come to PU even after six years to collect her medal. She has gotten married to one of her seniors Sitender, who has also studied from the same department. Gurinder Brar, 56, says she is a lifelong learner and has been enrolled in various universities including PU and a university in London since 1984. She secured first position in MA archaeology from the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology in 2019. Brar says that she is currently pursuing a masters in music from PU. She lost her mother, just two months back and said she would have been proud of her achievement. She is also a member of the Adventure Club Tricity. Members of the club were present during the ceremony to cheer her achievement. Prabhjot Kaur, a gold medallist for the 2018-19 LLM course and Karanbir Singh, a gold medallist of 2019 BA LLB and 2020 LLM course were both present to collect their medals. Both of them have now become judicial officers but still remain friends since their time in PU. Kaur had cleared the Delhi judiciary exam after finishing her degree but later cleared the Punjab judiciary exam and is now working as a judicial officer in the state. Kaur says that she was earlier posted in Batala and was transferred to the Khanna court last year. Karanbir Singh is posted as a judicial officer in the Tis Hazari Court in New Delhi. They both praised PU and said many of their seniors and other judicial officers are also from PU. Since finishing their degrees, Singh said that everything has changed now. He is now married and just recently had a baby girl. Shireen Hasnain, who received a gold medal in the four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, initially came from a commerce background. In school, she studied accountancy and business, preparing like many others for a career in commerce. But deep down, she always knew her true passion lay elsewhere. "I was always the best in art class, my art file used to be passed around for everyone to see," she recalls. While preparing for entrance tests for a BCom degree, she also appeared for the Fine Arts entrance, almost as a safety net. When she secured admission, her so-called backup plan became her main path. "My plan B became my plan A," she stated. Shireen went on to secure third rank in the UT and now works in Gurgaon as a graphic designer with an advertising agency. For Ritu Sharma, the convocation was the fulfilment of a dream she had for over two decades. After a gap of 22 years, Ritu returned to college alongside her elder son. She enrolled in a Bachelor's programme in Library and Information Science, followed by a master's in the same field, emerging as a double gold medalist for her academic excellence. While her son pursued his BTech from PU, Ritu sat in her own classrooms, proving that determination has no age limit. Having completed her Bachelor's in Political Science years ago, It was her sons who encouraged her to give her dreams another chance. Isha Singla, 26, graduated during the 2020 Covid batch with a Bachelor of engineering in computer science. She was recognised as a topper in engineering. Singla is the first in her family to pursue engineering. She shares an academic bond with her mother, who also graduated from the same university with an MSc in chemistry. She spoke about the challenges of online learning during the pandemic. "I hope more women will pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects and help close the gender gap in thesefields," she added and said she plans to continue her education and pursue a master'sdegree....