Battling health problems, this Odisha village boy cracks NEET-UG: ‘Steve Jobs quote on connecting dots inspired me’

When asked whether he was nervous during the exam, he said “My preparation was strong and I always considered my question paper as a patient and the examination hall as an operation theatre.

‘Considered exam hall as operation theatre’: Galib Raza after cracking NEET UG after fourth attempt

After completing his MBBS, Galib Raza wants to pursue a master's in general surgery and would also try for a Master of Chirurgiae in Urology

Despite facing health problems, Sekh Galib Raza cracked NEET UG 2024 in his fourth attempt. Hailing from Odisha’s Soro village, he is pursuing his MBBS at SCB Medical College and Hospital. The 20-year-old got 3835 rank and was not getting a seat at AIIMS Bhubaneshwar. “SCB Medical College and Hospital is one of the top colleges in the state and has been established since 1875. Here faculty and patient load is also good,” he said.

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Raza was suffering from urinary tract stricture (a urinary issue) when he appeared for the NEET UG in 2021 and 2022. Medications could not work for him and the only option he had was to undergo Urethroplasty . Due to poor health conditions, Raza underwent surgery six months before the NEET UG 2023.

Unfortunately, Raza was unable to sit for longer hours for his exam preparation. “I was advised bed rest by doctors, thereby affecting the schedule of offline coaching. Additionally, I was stressed about my disease and how it was impacting my dream. This affected my focus on studies,” said the Odisha-based student who followed his parent’s advice of switching to Allen’s online classes.

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It was during those testing times his sister stood with him and read his notes so that Raza could continue his NEET UG preparation. Unfortunately, he scored 591 and fell short by four marks.

Raza was not depressed and changed his approach towards the preparation. “My preparation was strong and I always considered my question paper as a patient and the examination hall as an operation theatre,” he said adding that he wants to pursue PG in general surgery and would also try for a Master of Chirurgiae in Urology.

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“I had one minor and one major surgery. To motivate myself, I just remembered a famous quote from Steve Jobs, ‘You cannot connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward. So a person has to trust those dots; that someday and somehow it will connect to the future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.’’

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The Odisha boy focused on making short notes for certain subjects, especially in Biology for topics like ecology and genetics. Before the examination, he appeared for 22 mock tests and five sample papers and revisited important topics to have a deeper understanding of the concepts.