My Story

Intro

Sometimes it is not about a lack of opportunities but more about knowing about opportunities in order to choose to accept them. Ketan opens up opportunities for a better life by informing high school students in India about the vast education opportunities available to them.

About Me

Hello, I am Ketan Deshpande from Pune, India. I am an engineering student, now in my third year of studies. I became an entrepreneur out of sheer lack on information regarding education opportunities.

I pursued my school education in a village and always wanted to go for engineering. However, the teachers in my village did not have a clear idea of how does one get into an engineering course. I tried to find out more about admissions procederes and after much effort came to know that there are two main entrance tests to get admission to an engineering course. However, by that time the date for one test had already passed. I was fortunate enough to have cleared the other test, and got admission to the university I wanted to go.

I made friends with classmates and students from other colleges at the start of the educational year and at a casual discussion in the college canteen, we realised that all of us faced the same problem - lack of information, which led some of us to lose opportunities that might have dramatically changed the lives of some of us for the better. This discussion drove us to think that just as we struggled, there must be many more students struggling to find information at the start of the next academic year. So we decided to do something so that those students do not miss opportunities as we had missed. We had limited exposure to the world then, and had no information about anyone doing such an activity. With no one to look up to, we decided to jump in, and constructed our own pathway. We have now taken inspiration from the Vision 2020 of our former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and I am passionate about expanding my venture to all students across the country who are struggling to find information.

Three years from our starting FUEL, this venture has become my passion. With the success of FUEL, I am confident that I and all other members of FUEL will succeed in anything we take up. The never-say-no attitude is what makes me tick.

My Venture

My project is called FUEL, which is an NGO with the main objective to spread educational awareness among students, particularly in the rural areas, which are perennially disconnected from areas of buzzing activity, when it comes to education.

The idea behind my NGO is that no student in this country, whatever social, economical background he comes from, should miss any opportunity because he/she has no access to information. In the past three years, we have touched the lives of over 100,000 students and saved most of them from losing a life changing opportunity. The volunteers of my NGO, including myself, are students completing their bachelors degree in various colleges. We use our free time on weekdays and mostly on weekends to travel to towns and villages in Maharashtra and North Karnataka (Indian states), where we conduct seminars on education opportunities after 12th or state board exams.

We also publish a book called ‘Students Fuel’, which contains information about exams and opportunities available to students after their 10+2 exams. It gives a brief idea of various educational disciplines, along with some of the most demanding and promising careers students can opt for. The major feature of the book which distinguishes itself is that it also guides students on complete admission procedure and the formalities which have to be completed to get admission into any desired college.

Additionally, we operate helplines on our personal cell phones, where we answer all queries related to educational opportunities & admissions. We have annual tie-ups with 110 institutes and colleges in Maharashtra, who arrange a venue for us, where we travel to and conduct seminars for their students.

We also provide students with a CD containing past year admission cut off marks of prime educational institutes. These marks, which are not openly available otherwise, help students optimize their college choices while filling up admission forms, so that they do not haphazardly opt for any college and lose some better options.