Lighting the Way to Economic Success
In just the last quarter of 2009, more than 2,000 JA India students participated in JA Careers with a Purpose.
Junior Achievement ignites the spark in
young people to learn about and experience
the realities and opportunities of work in the
21st-century global marketplace. Often, in
guiding them to explore their potential, Junior
Achievement generates a moment of truth for
a JA student, illuminating that "right" career
path and the road to success.
This is what 18-year-old Vijaya Revanthi
experienced. It was her final term at the
Government Girls Higher Secondary School
in the village of Illampillai in the Salem district
in southern India. Vijaya's socio-economic
situation was challenging. Her parents had
"daily wage" jobs. Stressed and sad at
seeing her parents struggle and go without to
support her schooling, she thought it would
be best to abandon any dreams of college
and find a job to help the family. The decision
led her to lose interest in her studies, and her
test scores fell dramatically.
Then Vijaya participated in the JA Careers
with a Purpose® program and saw the future
in a new light. She learned how her skills,
interests and values aligned with high-growth,
high-demand careers, and how she could find
meaning and fulfillment in the workplace and
assist her family to a far greater degree than
she had first thought.
Vijaya told the JA volunteer that she 
wanted
a better life—that she wanted to pursue the
options Junior Achievement had shown her.
She raised her test scores, graduated, and
enrolled at a local university where she is
majoring in computer science with the goal of
becoming a teacher.
Junior Achievement is highly motivational.
"In India, in just the last quarter of 2009,
more than 2,000 students participated in JA
Careers with a Purpose, and many achieved
better academic performance," said Venkat
Matoory, CEO of JA India. "In a county where
millions of children have no formal schooling,
this demonstration of the relevancy and
impact of education—the empowerment that
Junior Achievement provides—can make
a real difference in public perception and
governmental policies for the benefit of all of
our respective economic futures."