Born in the rain-soaked city of Ernakulam, Sandra’s childhood was defined by silence and struggle. Her home was a place where food ran out and affection never arrived. At fifteen, she lost her mother. In her place came a stepmother whose cold disapproval turned the house into a battleground. Sandra had no mentors, no guiding hand, only a quiet obsession with textbooks and a growing bond with numbers. As others slept, she studied by the faint glow of a kerosene lamp, clinging to a dream no one around her believed in.
School became her first battlefield and her first victory. At St. Teresa’s, she became the student others turned to for accounting riddles and math equations. Her instinct for logic stood out. When she wasn’t studying, she was working part time at a local store, handling cashbooks and counting coins. Every rupee saved had a purpose. Faculty noticed her focus. They urged her to think beyond the village limits. But back home, ambition wasn’t welcome. Her stepmother declared it loudly: girls must marry, not master ledgers. Sandra’s answer was quiet but fierce. She applied for a commerce degree and took the seat no one wanted her to take.
Hunger didn’t stop her. Loneliness didn’t stop her. When others dropped out or gave in, she pushed harder. Sleepless nights turned into top grades. She led projects, tutored weaker students, and when TCS visited for campus placements, she didn’t just participate, she dominated. Her resume stood out not for what it had, but for what it survived. She was hired and sent to Bangalore, far from the confines of her upbringing. It wasn’t a fairy tale. It was the start of a longer war. The job gave her stability, but not satisfaction. Sandra wanted mastery, not mediocrity.
Then came the pandemic. For most, it was a pause. For Sandra, it was a pivot. She joined M.com but delays in the educational system prevented her from completing the course. So she started sending out applications across continents. While the world locked down, she opened doors. In 2022, she received the letter she had dared to imagine: an offer from a top UK university for an MBA in FinTech Management. Her bags were packed with secondhand sweaters and sky-high dreams. She arrived in London carrying no safety net, only steel resolve.
Life in London was brutal. She worked early shifts at a café, spent afternoons assisting professors, and stayed up nights decoding digital finance and macroeconomics. Her peers came from privilege. She came from fire. In 2023, she graduated with distinction and She obtained a permanent work as a Teaching Assistant at College Park School before her degree was completed. She now teaches her students about numbers and emphasises their relevance in life. From a small rented room in Kerala to a desk in the heart of London’s school system, Sandra had crossed more than miles. She had rewritten the script she was handed.
Now she speaks to women across India, not to inspire but to instruct. Her virtual sessions draw hundreds. She teaches her young learners to understand money, save for what matters, and feel confident managing their own little budgets. Sandra is not selling a dream. She is proving a strategy. Her story is not about luck or fate. It is a lesson in defiance. In a world quick to write off girls from poor homes, she turned every insult into fuel. She didn’t just survive the odds. She beat them into silence.
