Born during the Kargil war, 15-year-old Vinita Bicholkar has had a hard time ever since she was a child. A premature baby, she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the neurological disorder that affects human motor functions. She was confined to a wheelchair, struggled with stiff limbs and has suffered from seizures since then.
But Bicholkar did not give up. She overcame her circumstances and scored 83 per cent in the recently-concluded Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam conducted by the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, reported The Times of India.
"I believe you can do everything if you have confidence," Bicholkar told TOI. "I have another option, I want to learn all about the law and become a lawyer so that I can help people who are in trouble," she told TOI, adding that she had joined the St Andrews higher secondary school where will now pursue the arts stream.
"Vinita's success at the board exams from a regular school is sufficient proof that specially-abled students can cope with and compete with regular students and excel in their studies," Disability Rights Association of Goa president Avelino de Sa told TOI.
An army man's daughter, Bicholkar has now set her sights on the Indian Administrative Services next. "There were 63 students in her class, but the teachers never gave her any special attention," her proud father told TOI.
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