SUVA (University of the South Pacific/ Pacific Media Watch): A former journalism student of the University of the South Pacific, Maneesha Karan, has received five gold medals for academic excellence In India, becoming the first Indian government scholarship recipient to do so.
The 28-year-old Karan was awarded the medals by Mysore University in India, where she completed her Master of Arts (MA) in Journalism and Communication.
The medals included: The Janmabhoomi Press Trust gold medal, Dr Masti Venkatesha Iyengar Gouravartha gold medal and Smt Chandramma Narasimha Murthy Memorial Trust gold medal for passing the MA programme examination in the first attempt and attaining highest total marks in different departments; the Zee News gold medal for passing in the television programme production techniques in the first attempt and securing the highest marks; and the Star of Mysore Silver Jubilee Endowment gold medal for achieving the highest overall score in the entire course.
Originally from Labasa, Fiji, Karan completed her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Information Systems from USP.
Karan acknowledged USP's student newspaper Wansolwara.
Wansolwara highlight
“The best part about USP Journalism was that the students were publishing Wansolwara, which was the department’s student newspaper.”
Karan "enjoyed" her time at USP, working at media organisations as part of her study.
“We were also given the opportunity to undertake internships with media companies, and so during semester breaks since Semester 1, I worked as an intern at The Fiji Times, Fiji Sun and Communications Fiji Limited, until completing my course,” she said.
She then worked as a journalist at The Fiji Times for three years and then as an information officer at Fiji National University’s National Training and Productivity Centre for six months before departing for further studies.
Head of USP Journalism Shailendra Singh said Karan was an award-winning student at USP.
“In 2006, she was highly commended in the Best (Print) Feature category at the Journalism Education Awards for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific".
Singh added that her awards showed USP journalism graduates could perform, compete and excel at an international level.
Karan dedicated her medals to her parents, including her late father, who had always inspired her. She urged friends to further their studies because, according to her, “knowledge is that one thing you cannot be robbed of".
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