Kavita stood out from her very first day in class 1, a bright girl, always willing to raise her hand and try to answer questions in class. Like most girls from her community she was shy, but her laughing eyes revealed a keen sense of humour, and she was quietly determined.
Very soon she had established her position as the most able girl in her class and, when she took the entrance exam for middle school in Guria, she scored the second highest mark from Mujehra school and took a coveted place in Class 6. Here she found that she was working at a much higher level and with a cohort of very bright students. Added to this, the Mujehra pupils had to set out early to catch the school bus and arrived back at Mujehra an hour after the end of the school day.
During school exams Kavita had the chance to stay in the boarding hostel at Guria and study with the boarders. Her parents were reluctant to allow her to be away from home for long and when she had a minor illness, they convinced themselves that the boarding hostel was not healthy for her. Kavita continued to work hard at school, however, and at the end of middle school passed the entrance exam for class 9 ranking 15th in her class at Guria out of a set of more than 40 students.