kolkata the financial uncertainty that the pandemic has hurled her family into could not stop this determined teenaged girl from achieving her dream thirdtime lucky suryatapa santra who will turn 20 tomorrow has come 5476th on the neet merit list a rank that will secure her a seat at a medical college in kolkata suryatapa from east midnapores chandipur was among the 2019 higher secondary toppers after scoring 974 in hs in 2019 her first attempt at neet got her a score of 17 lakh at my mothers prodding i took admission in chemistry honours at jadavpur university the next year but i kept preparing for neet and in 2020 i got a 72000 rank i didnt want to give up on my dreams and so took the test one more time she saidbut back home financial hardship had begun even before the pandemic struck her father swapan lost his shop to a road extension project in chandipur though a graduate all that swapan could get were odd jobs but even those doors were shut due to covid her mother sudakshina a postgraduate too lost her teachers job at a local private school which was shut down sauryatapa has been mostly studying on the states kanyashree grant but she was lucky to find unexpected help from benefactors who were moved by her drive to be a doctor and serve the poor by coincidence she met former sskm doctor amiya maiti who runs a private medical training institute rainbow in lake gardens maiti said i was moved by her determination we provided her with books study material and coaching her 2021 rank is likely to find her a place in a kolkata medical college but medical studies have expenses she might need more help to pursue her dream