Jalpaiguri, July 21 -- Overcoming financial hardship with sheer determination, Shreya Sarkar from Jalpaiguri has secured a prestigious position as a software engineer at Google's Bengaluru office, with an annual package of Rs 54 lakh. Her journey from modest beginnings to a global tech giant has become a source of inspiration and pride, especially for her alma mater, Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College.

A resident of East Aravinda Nagar in Jalpaiguri town, Shreya was raised in a financially struggling family. Her father, Abir Sarkar, works at a local furniture shop under a "no work, no pay" system. Despite the odds, her family ensured she received quality education at a private English-medium school, where she earned a scholarship for academic excellence.

After clearing the Joint Entrance Examination, she gained admission to Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College's Computer Science programme. Owing to her strong academic performance, she received a full tuition fee waiver under the college's merit-based scheme.

Shreya's journey with Google began early. In her first year, she was selected for a two-year Google mentorship programme and received a Rs 1 lakh stipend. In her third year, she became the Relationship Lead of the Google Developer Student Club on campus and was among 45 students nationwide to receive the Google Generation Scholarship.

Her breakthrough came during a 12-week internship at Google, where she earned a stipend of Rs 1.23 lakh. Impressed by her performance, the company extended a Pre-Placement Offer (PPO). She also received offers from CSC, Amazon and Google but ultimately chose the latter.

"I believe luck plays a part, but hard work and not giving up are more important,"

Shreya said.

"None of this would've been possible without the support of my professors

and family." Shreya's success has become a matter of immense pride for Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College. Subhash Barman, Head of the Computer Science department, said: "To the best of our knowledge, she is the first from our college to be hired by Google. We are extremely proud of her."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.