From Student to Operations Coordinator: Khushboo Rawat's full-circle journey at Prerna Girls School

The strongest proof of an institution’s impact is not always where their students reach, but what they return to build. It is seen in students who return because they want to give back to the same system that once supported them. 

Khushboo Rawat first entered Prerna Girls School in Lucknow as a student. Today, she helps manage food operations for children studying in the same school. Her story began in Vishal Khand, a slum community in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. Khushboo grew up in a world where opportunity was not always easy to find. Like many girls around her, the path ahead could have become narrow very quickly. But Khushboo had dreams.

At the age of eight, a child may not fully understand what a school can do for their life. But over time, a classroom becomes more than a place to study. It becomes a place where a child starts seeing things differently. For Khushboo, this school became that place. It gave her education, structure, exposure, and the confidence to believe that her life could become bigger than the circumstances she had grown up in.

Finding the voice

Khushboo studied at Prerna Girls School for almost a decade. During these years, she was not only learning from books, she was also discovering herself. Drama became an important part of that journey. Performing helped her become more confident and comfortable expressing herself in front of others.

At the age of 16, she was selected for a global exchange program and drama workshop in Plymouth, UK. It was proof that a girl from Vishal Khand could enter international spaces, and carry her own story with dignity. The experience took her far beyond the familiar lanes of Gomti Nagar and opened up a new world for her.

Learning food operations from the ground up

Khushboo continued her education in BA, while also she began working part-time with Didi’s Foods, an organisation that focuses on empowerment of underserved women. What began as part-time work slowly became a journey of responsibility and ownership.

She first worked as the canteen in-charge at school, serving children in the same school where she had once studied. She then handled store responsibilities, managed stock, supported the purchase of raw materials, and became involved in production. Each role taught her something new. She learned how food operations work from the inside, from planning and purchasing to coordination and execution. She understood that every small detail matters because behind every meal is a child who depends on it.

Over time, Khushboo grew into her current role as Operations Coordinator at Didi’s Foods. Today, she helps manage food operations for children at the school where she once studied and now helps run the system that supports 900+ children.

Returning to where it all began

Khushboo’s story has come full circle. Today, Prerna Girls School is also one of Feeding India’s partner schools through its Daily Feeding Program. She joined as a young girl, and found confidence there. The same ecosystem that supported her education later gave her a place to work, as a trusted vendor partner at Didi’s Foods. The children whose journeys mirror her own are now the children she helps serve.

Her story shows what can happen when children are supported consistently and how that support can showcase impact well beyond a child’s school years. Today, as Operations Coordinator, she helps create the conditions for many more children to dream too.

At Feeding India, we believe meals are more than nutrition. For a child, it can be the difference between staying in school and dropping out, between showing up with confidence and showing up hungry and distracted. Every plate served is linked to attendance, to learning, to dignity, and to the simple right of a child to dream.