Officer on My First Lok Sewa Attempt: 8 Truths for Your Hardest Days

Last updated: September 2026

If you’re here, maybe your Lok Sewa first attempt feels too hard today.

Maybe you studied for hours and remember nothing. Maybe someone said something that stayed with you. Maybe you’re just tired.

I know that feeling. I left my job to prepare for Lok Sewa full-time, alone in a small rented room in Kathmandu. I passed Lok Sewa on my first attempt and joined directly at officer level. I was a fresh graduate who had only just finished my Bachelor’s. Nearly nine years later, I still serve as an officer in Nepal’s civil service.

Save this page. Come back whenever you need it. That’s why I wrote it.

Where I started

No one in my family had ever been a civil servant. Not my parents, not my siblings, not a single relative.

I began working at eighteen, teaching in a school to support myself while I studied.

The day I finished my Bachelor’s in Pokhara, I left that job and moved to Kathmandu alone to prepare full-time. After that, every rupee mattered. Rent came first, and everything else waited.

I was leaving a job I knew and a steady income, for a city where I had no familiar face.

People had opinions. Some asked if a government job was realistic for a girl. Some talked about marriage. Others said no one without connections clears Lok Sewa in one try.

I heard all of it. I kept going anyway.

My Lok Sewa first attempt: how I passed and became an officer

Like most candidates, I joined a coaching class. It helped me understand the syllabus and the exam format.

But the class was only a few hours a day. The real work happened alone at my desk.

I studied the hardest subjects from five to nine every morning, while my mind was fresh. Around midday I worked through past papers. In the evenings I kept it lighter with current affairs, the Constitution and general knowledge.

The biggest change came when I studied five years of old question papers. I saw that Lok Sewa rewards understanding how Nepal actually works, not memorising everything.

My routine wasn’t perfect. It was simply repeated, every single day.

8 truths for the days you want to give up

These are the eight things I needed to hear during my own preparation. Read the one that fits your day.

When you feel you’ll never finish the syllabus

No one finishes everything. Neither did I.

Open the past papers and see what keeps coming back. Study that first. Then take one small topic today, just one, and finish it properly.

A mountain gets climbed one step at a time. Nobody climbs it in one jump.

When someone says you can’t do it

Their doubt is about their own fears. It isn’t information about your future.

I heard the same words, and I’m still here, writing this to you as an officer. Let their comments pass like weather. You don’t have to carry them.

When you think others are far ahead of you

Someone always seems to know more, study longer, or have better notes. Comparing yourself will only steal the hours you need.

The question paper will be the same for all of you. What matters is how much better you are today than you were last month.

When you feel completely alone

Some evenings, the silence in my room felt heavy. No familiar face, no one asking if I had eaten.

In all of Kathmandu, there was not a single person who told me, “You can do this. Keep studying.”

Only my mother did. She was the one person who kept encouraging me, from far away, the whole time.

She had worked hard her whole life without complaining. She never lectured me about effort. I had simply grown up watching her live it.

She used to tell me, “Aafno man lai jasto banayo, testai result aauchha.” Whatever you make your mind believe, that is the result you get.

And she always added, “Be confident. You can do it.”

About money, she had one more line: “Paisa ko chinta nagar, mero hatkhutta chhanjel.” Don’t worry about money, as long as my hands and feet can still work.

Those words sat with me at my desk every morning.

Sometimes one person is enough. If you have even one person who believes in you, hold on to that. And if today you feel you have no one, let this page be the one voice telling you: you can do this. Keep studying.

When the fear of failing won’t stop

Some nights, one question kept me awake. What if my name isn’t on the list?

What helped me wasn’t thinking harder. It was picking up my pen and writing a full practice answer, right then.

Fear doesn’t leave. But when you work, it has somewhere to go.

When you study all day and remember nothing

This happens to everyone. It doesn’t mean you’re not capable.

Your brain learns through repetition, not in one sitting. What feels forgotten today often comes back in the exam hall when you need it.

Rest tonight. Revise tomorrow morning. It will be clearer than you expect.

When you think you’re too young or too new

I had only just finished my Bachelor’s when I passed Lok Sewa. I was a fresh graduate with no government experience at all.

Some candidates in the exam hall may have tried many times before. That doesn’t put them ahead of you. The paper doesn’t give marks for years spent preparing. It gives marks for what you understand and how clearly you write it.

Being new also means you haven’t learned to doubt yourself yet. Use that.

When you feel your background holds you back

In the exam hall, the question paper doesn’t ask where you come from, what your family owns, or whom you know.

I came from outside Kathmandu. I had worked since eighteen. I was the first civil servant in my family, with no one inside the system to guide me.

I still became an officer on my first attempt, right after my Bachelor’s.

Your background decides how hard the road is. It doesn’t decide where the road ends.

The day my name was on the list

It was Saptami, during Dashain. I had just reached home that day.

In the evening, my phone rang from a number I didn’t know. I picked it up, and before I could say anything, a friend’s voice said, “Congratulations.”

I had passed the Section Officer written exam. My whole body was trembling.

I kept asking myself one question. Is this real?

And that wasn’t the only result. The same preparation I had done for the officer exam carried me through others too. That year, I also passed the written exams for Investigation Officer and Nayab Subba, one after another.

That’s when I understood something. When you prepare deeply for one exam, that effort doesn’t stay in one place. It opens more than one door.

All the cold mornings suddenly made sense.

That day wasn’t the end of the journey. It was the day I earned the right to begin it.

To you, right now

Maybe you’re reading this late at night in a rented room, far from home. Maybe you’re close to giving up.

I was in that room once.

Close this page, open your books, and do just today’s work. These hard days are quietly shaping the officer you will become.

And whenever you need to hear it again, come back here. I’ll be saying the same thing.

You’re closer to that merit list than you think.

FAQ

How to pass Lok Sewa in the first attempt?

Start with the last five years of question papers to understand what the exam really asks. Build a daily routine you can keep, and practise writing full answers regularly. Consistency matters more than long hours.

Can a fresh graduate become an officer in the first attempt?

Yes. I did, right after finishing my Bachelor’s. What matters is understanding the exam pattern and preparing consistently, not how many years you have spent trying. [VERIFY: current educational eligibility and age criteria for officer level on the Lok Sewa Aayog website, psc.gov.np]

Loksewa ko tayari kasari garne?

Begin with the syllabus and past papers, not with a pile of guidebooks. Study the hardest subjects in the morning, keep current affairs for the evening, and write practice answers every week.

How do I stay motivated for Lok Sewa preparation?

Keep a small daily routine and protect it, even on low days. Focus on today’s work instead of the final result. Motivation comes and goes, but a routine keeps you moving.

Is coaching necessary for Lok Sewa?

It can help you understand the syllabus and format, and I attended a class myself. But your own daily self-study decides the result. For more update visit the site : PSC