“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”

To begin with, I completed my Masters in Convergent Journalism from Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi in 2018. I have worked with various media organisation like The Statesman, BBC, All India Radio, News X, & The Citizen. I have always been inclined towards studies academically and researching on any subject has been my major trait since the beginning.

Appearing for the UGC NET exam was a natural progression and target in my career graph. I always desired to pursue research on a subject which could contribute productively towards the society through its impactful application. I first appeared for the UGC Net exam in June 2018, however during that attempt, I did not had a chance to prepare for the exam as my masters curriculum was quite extensive. The June 2019 NTA NET was my second attempt, however this was the first time, that I dedicated a serious strategy and study schedule for the attempt. As a result I cleared Net JRF with a score of 204 out of 300.

I began my preparation by understanding the new syllabus which had a lot of revisions and changes. After going through the syllabus thoroughly, I researched on the study material and books available online and ordered a few of them. My next stride was to prepare a strict timetable dedicating specific hours for both Paper 1 and Paper 2 and religiously following it without fail.

I would like to highlight one thing here for all the aspirants preparing for the upcoming exam that, “All you need is to become your own teacher and be harsh with yourself while following your plan”.

Another important element of my preparation was to divert myself and quit social media for two months. I deleted all the social media application from phone, though it was quite difficult but very fruitful in saving time and staying dedicated.

Some of the major books I referred to were KVS Madan for Paper 1 and for Paper 2, I referred to Keval J Kumar (Mass Communication in India), Arihant and R Gupta. Along with this I made elaborate notes on each topic highlighting the important aspect of each topic.

One of the most important tip, I would like to suggest for aspirants here is that do not rely on solutions or answers for questions given in books like KVS Madan and Arihant as a major portion of these answers given after every unit are largely wrong. Along with this solving last 10 years question papers for both Paper 1 & Paper 2 is quite important as it makes you well versed with key elements of every topic in the syllabus. Also try and buy a few online mock tests for practicing in a controlled exam environment with specific time duration to enhance your quality of preparation.