“I still do not know how to react. I am just happy. I had gone out and reached home at 9.15 a.m. when my father was waiting outside to break the news!”
For K. Sandhya of S.R.D.F.Vivekananda Vidyalaya Higher Secondary School, Chengalpattu, who obtained the first rank in the category of students who studied Tamil or any other language, everything seemed like a dream.
Scoring three centums and a total of 1191, she says: “I have to thank my teachers primarily. The teacher-student relationship in our schools is simply unmatched. They are like our first.”
Her parents, S. Kannan and K. Sivakami, are both with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited as National Accounts Manager and Sub-Divisional Engineer respectively.
On her strategy, the student says she had a preparation schedule and stuck to it. “I would never study late in the night, but made it to a point not to sleep beyond 4 a.m.,” she said. Not fully sure of her next move, she says she is most likely to pursue engineering, as it is her father's choice. “I want to be in the civil services,” she says, pressed further on what her ambitions are.
Sandhya is not simply studious. She has a very interesting side to her. A right arm spin bowler, she represented the State under-19 team in the women's cricket team but quit after joining class XII.
Jayapradha V.R., who scored 1,190 and the second rank, says consistency is her secret of her success. “I did go for tuitions but it was hard work and a lot of combined studies that I did with my twin sister that helped me,” said the student of Vidyodaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai. Her sister missed the rank by three marks. In this category, she shared the second rank with K. Rekha of Sri Vijay Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Hosur.
S. Mahalakshmi of H.F.C. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chengalpattu, scored 1,189 marks, obtaining the third rank in the State.
Daughter of K.Sridharan, Section Officer with Bureau of Indian Standards, and S.Vijayalakshmi, a homemaker, it was hard work all the way for Mahalakshmi. “I did not allow my daughter to be distracted under any circumstances and even suspended the cable connection. Even if relatives visited the house, she would not spend much time with them,” says Mr. Sridharan.
The student wants to take sometime to decide what she wants to do next.
(With inputs from K. Manikandan and Liffy Thomas)
