 Hi, I am Shruti. I have secured all India rank 1 in Indian Forest Services 2021 and all India rank 196 in UPSC CAC 2021. In academics, I have done my graduation in Botany from Delhi University in 2018. Then I went on to do a master's degree in same subject from Delhi University itself. It was during my master's that I began appearing for UPSC civil services examination and this was my third consecutive attempt. Forest services in particular had a lot of appeal for me right from the beginning because being close to nature is something that I immensely enjoy. Also because I felt that it would be a bit easier for me given my academic background and expertise in biology. That is why I chose my optionals as Botany and Zoology. Though this year I was expecting that I would make it to the list though I was not expecting rank 1 at all. It came as a big surprise for me as well. Talking about my preparation strategy, for prelims we do not need to do anything differently because it is the same exam as CAC and I just practiced a lot of test papers and I think it helped me score a bit higher and cleared the forest cut-off. For mains we have to focus a lot on our optionals. Botany for me was easier because of my graduation and I referred to my graduation notes mostly for the subject. For Zoology I referred to some toppers notes like Kajal Javala Ma'am. She got ranked 28 around 2 years ago and I also referred to certain books like Pranav Mishra's Pathfinder that I was also studying for a net GRF exam that I was preparing for side by side. And there is an important paper of English in mains exam. There I read Renan Martin and I think it helped me a lot with the grammar section in particular. For interview we have to prepare separately for forest because it is much more technical than the civil services personality test. For that I read about the legal and technical aspects of forestry. I took certain classes from interview guidance program of Shankar IS as well and talked to Kartikeyan sir which helped me a lot in clearing certain doubts regarding this services. I would like to thank my family my parents and my parents in laws both sets for all their blessings and constant support. My family has been my pillar of strength. I would also extend my gratitude to my mentors to all the teachers who have helped me in various stages of UPC journey so far.