Akash is a PhD student in mechanical engineering at Duke University. Unlike many students who go through the traditional process of graduating high school to go to college, Akash decided that school was not apt for him and dropped out in 7th grade. This decision was also because Akash had a passion for science, so much so that every other subject did not really interest him. Instead of going to school during his middle and high school years, Akash kept himself busy by creating solar panels in his home’s garage with scraps from different electronic devices that he had.

Living in a remote village in India, Akash had no access to wifi or any device that could access the internet. Having so much time to himself, Akash self-studied for the college entrance exam and continued to work on his personal projects in his home’s garage.

Having gone a nontraditional route of going into college, here is some advice that Akash had told me during my interview with him:

1. Do something that you feel resonated with. Akash had a strong passion for improving his homemade solar panel that could provide energy for his village. With such a strong passion, Akash later pioneered his own field of research at Duke University.