Mayuri Dhar lost her father just eight days before her physical education examination but the support of her elder brother and mother helped her overcome depression and strive for success.

The 18-year-old appeared in CBSE Class XII exam from Baldwin Academy this year. When the results came out on Monday, she found that she had scored 61.8 per cent. Though she had two papers to finish her board exams, good scores were far from her thoughts when her father, Mukul Dhar Narain, died on March 16.

Her family came to her rescue. “My elder brother Mayank, who is an engineer, and mother Meera Narain advised me to not to miss the exams despite our bereavement.”

Taking courage from their encouragement, she took her physical education and economics exams to taste success.

So did Raju Kumar from Gyan Niketan. The 18-year-old commerce student has scored almost 95 per cent.

The son of Mukesh Kumar Singh had to fight dark poverty shoulder-to-shoulder with his siblings and parents to emerge in the light of glory.

“I have two younger sisters. My father is the only earning member of our family. (Raju’s mother Rubi Kumari is a homemaker.) His income is not enough to support the five of us and also sponsor our education,” said Raju, who wants to become a chartered accountant.

Often his father could not pay his school fees. But on Monday, the hardworking student was enjoying the fruits of his toil, having left behind all the hurdles and adversity.

Cut to Nikita Kumari. No matter how hard she tried to remember her lessons, her memory kept betraying her. The commerce student from International School had to fight tooth and nail to retain her studies. “Whenever I lost faith in myself, my parents (Hira Kant and Kanchan Choudhary) and teacher Manoj Kumar encouraged me,” said Nikita, 19.

If struggle with her memory were not enough, she fell ill right before her business studies exam on May 6. But Nikita did not lose faith and went ahead to conquer the hurdles to set an example for all and sundry.

Notre Dame Academy student Malavika Srivastava, too, studied hard to score more than 95 per cent marks. Daughter of Intelligence Bureau, Bihar, director Vivek Srivastava, she had got a letter of appreciation from then Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal for her good performance in Class X boards.