The clock starts ticking for students of Class XII even before the school reopens. Especially those who work towards a State rank and for whom summer holidays were spent attending tuition classes.
After the Class XII examinations results were declared recently, V. Vignesh Kumar decided he must visit his senior and a school-ranker for some inspiration. “A majority of students in my class are aiming for a rank. For me listening to Gulzar Ahmed, who secured 1,181, was a way to motivate me to get started,” says Vignesh Kumar, a student of DAV Senior Secondary School, Anna Nagar.
Most students in Class XII reduce their number of sleeping hours, sacrifice a thing or two that would otherwise distract them or start burning the midnight oil, but students who have come out with flying colours say consistency is the key to success. “Concentrate, work hard and be consistent'' tops the winning strategy of a majority of toppers.
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The cable television connection was re-installed at Vaishali Jain's (name changed) home on April 12, a day after the IIT-JEE examination got over. Exactly a year before her parents decided to disconnect it, something that Vaishali thinks helped her concentrate better as she was preparing for a number of competitive examinations.
“Sleeping was something which was hard for me to resist, so my father would play a loud and jarring music every day to wake me up,” says the PSBB Higher Secondary School student, who slept by 10.30 p.m. and got up by 5.30 a.m.
V. Sharini, who topped Class X and Class XI in school and scored 1,187 marks in Class XII, says it is important to take every examination seriously and not just the Boards. “I am a slow learner. There were times when I cried too, but I was consistent and studied non-stop for seven hours (except for a few minutes of rest),” says Sharini, who use to unwind after the term examinations watching a movie on HBO.
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While many avoid social networking sites such as Orkut and Facebook saying it could be an addiction, blogs, especially those of IIT-JEE toppers are read by some to build confidence.
As the schools reopen, quite a number of institutions will have their own strategy to motivate students. Some schools call in counsellors or speakers to talk about ‘Coping with failure', ‘Healthy Competition' and ‘Success Strategy'.
In today's competitive world where rankers hog the spotlight, counsellors say it is also essential to focus on those who have achieved for their effort.
“I wish the term ‘marks' is removed from the vocabulary of parents and teachers. Success is being satisfied for one's hard work,” says Arundhati Swamy, school and family counsellor.