M Lakshmi Soujanya’s UPSC Journey: Lessons in Planning and Persistence

Who is M Lakshmi Soujanya?

M Lakshmi Soujanya is an engineer from Visakhapatnam who, according to media reports at the time, secured rank 127 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2020.

In an interaction with Team Yo!, Soujanya described growing up in the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) township and attending DAV Public School in the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant area. She later pursued a BTech in Computer Science at NIT Warangal and joined a private company.

She identified her father, who worked as a senior manager at the Steel Melting Shop (SMS) 1 of Vizag Steel Plant, as a role model and source of inspiration. Her account centres on family encouragement, a career change and a willingness to revise her approach when an earlier result did not meet her expectations.

Why did she leave her job to prepare for UPSC?

Soujanya said she decided to attempt the Civil Services Examination in 2016 after an uncle encouraged her to consider it.

Following that advice, she left her private-sector job and began preparing. This is a reported detail of her individual journey, rather than evidence that resigning is necessary to clear the examination. Her account does not establish that leaving employment, by itself, produced the eventual result.

For working aspirants, the useful question is whether their current circumstances allow consistent preparation. Before making a career decision, consider financial commitments, available study time, preparation progress and a fallback plan. A success story can prompt reflection, but it should not replace an assessment of personal responsibilities.

What changed after an earlier UPSC attempt?

After securing a rank in her second attempt that fell short of her expectations, Soujanya reviewed her approach and adopted a planned preparation schedule.

She described recognising that her approach to the examination needed to change. Rather than simply repeating the same routine, she planned a schedule for her preparation and worked to follow it consistently. The source does not specify her earlier rank or identify the 2020 result as a particular numbered attempt.

The practical lesson is to turn disappointment into a specific review. Aspirants can examine which parts of preparation were incomplete, where revision was irregular and whether practice revealed recurring difficulties. These are suggested ways to apply the lesson, not additional methods attributed to Soujanya.

• Identify the gap between the intended preparation plan and what was actually completed.
• Choose specific changes instead of making a general promise to work harder.
• Build a schedule that includes learning, revision and examination practice.
• Review whether the revised approach is improving understanding and performance.

How did time management shape her preparation?

Soujanya credited time management and the habit of comparing time spent with knowledge gained as important parts of her preparation.

This shifts attention from merely recording study hours to asking what those hours achieved. Her account does not provide a daily study-hour target, a subject-wise timetable or a booklist. It would therefore be misleading to turn her experience into a fixed schedule that every aspirant should copy.

A practical application is to give each study session a clear purpose: understanding a topic, recalling previously studied material or practising questions. At the end, check whether that purpose was achieved. If not, adjust the task or method rather than assuming that additional hours alone will solve the problem.

What role did exercise and family support play?

Soujanya described morning exercise as part of her routine and her father as a continuing source of inspiration.

She said she exercised every morning for at least one hour to stay active throughout the day. Aspirants need not reproduce that duration; the relevant takeaway is to create a sustainable routine that leaves room for health alongside preparation.

On hearing her result, she recalled feeling relieved. She also spoke of the pride she felt when her father’s colleagues congratulated him. These details show the personal significance of the outcome without suggesting that every aspirant must have the same family circumstances or support system.

What should aspirants take from this story?

The strongest takeaway is to adapt preparation thoughtfully rather than copy another candidate’s life choices.

Soujanya’s reported journey connects persistence with a change in approach: reviewing an earlier result, planning more deliberately and paying attention to learning outcomes. Use those principles to evaluate your own preparation. Neither leaving a job nor following someone else’s routine guarantees a UPSC result.