From top debater to Petronas scholar
Top debater Karshni Claudia Guvalakrisnan, 18, a former SM All Saints student, believes her des ny lies in pursuing law as she said, “I’m very clear that I want to do law”.
KOTA KINABALU: Top debater Karshni Claudia Guvalakrisnan, 18, believes her destiny lies in pursuing law.
“Everyone was telling me that I was going to be a lawyer because I was a debater. I can feel it myself. I’m very clear that I want to do law,” said Karshni, a recipient of the Petronas Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP).
The former SM All Saints student who scored 10A’s in last year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) was among 34 Sabahan students who received the national oil and gas company’s long-running flagship education sponsorship this year.
She will pursue a law degree in the United Kingdom.
“I’m immensely grateful to Petronas because this is the only chance I have to pursue my ambition,” she said.
Born and raised in Likas, Karshni started training as a debater when she was 14 and since then, she had been actively involved in her school’s debate team.
“Debating has moulded me to be a critical analyst, a keen listener and an articulate speaker,” she said.
“I learned a lot about the importance of understanding the meaning of what people say instead of trying to argue relentlessly.”
Her late night research and a lot of practice propelled her to win the Best Speaker at the Sabah state-level parliamentary style English debate competition in 2016 and 2017.
Having performed well in school and proven her mettle as a debater, Karshni is now raring to take up new challenges.
“I understand that there is a certain amount of pressure being a Petronas scholar as one needs to be a holistic individual, with intelligence, and one who is friendly and possesses leadership quality. I want to equip myself to be such a scholar,” said Karshni, who is currently undergoing Cambridge A-Levels at KDU University College in Damansara Jaya.
The PESP recipients, including Karshni, were identified through a two-phase assessment at a session called Petronas YoungStars Day, held in Kota Kinabalu in April.
The first phase was an online test that assessed the students’ problem-solving and thinking skills while the second was an interview to gauge their leadership and interpersonal skills.
“I didn’t know what to anticipate or what kind of questions we would be asked. It was a tense atmosphere. Nevertheless, I believe that my years of debate training had helped me find solutions to the problems we were tasked to solve,” she said.
Karshni said the interview had taught her to stay calm when under pressure.
“I would urge future PESP aspirants to keep calm and think critically,” said Karshni.