A balanced study-leisure schedule and diligence helped toppers in the Class 12 Higher Secondary School examinations achieve their goals. Induja A. and Nikitha R. of St. Patrick Matric Higher Secondary School shared the top spot with 1187 marks.
Ms. Induja has set her sights on a seat in medicine in either AIIMS or JIPMER. “I had a set number of study hours, but also watched television for leisure,” said Ms. Induja, who has participated in quiz competitions and athletics.
Her father Anbazhagan said the credit should go to Ms. Induja’s mother Parameswari, as he worked out of town.
Commerce
Ms. Nikitha, a Commerce student, wants to become a Chartered Accountant. She has already begun preparations with coaching classes. “I am happy about the results as I was not expecting a State rank,” said Ms. Nikitha, who pursues dance and keyboard in her leisure time.
It was a double delight for Harish Balaji, a student of Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School who secured the State second rank and also cleared the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains for the IITs recently. He attributed his success to hard work and support from parents and teachers.
“I was expecting to be among the school toppers but the State rank came as a pleasant surprise. I put in a lot of hard work and studied for over 10 hours daily. My parents also supported me and enrolled me for IIT coaching classes in Chennai from class nine”.
Pursue engineering
He added, “I aspire to take up Mechanical or Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras.”
Pratiksha G. of St. Patrick Matric Higher Secondary School, who bagged the third rank with 1182 marks, is also a recipient of the Best Student award in her school. “I want to study software engineering at the Pondicherry Engineering College,” said Ms. Pratiksha, following in the footsteps of her sister who has also completed engineering.
Regis Britto, co-correspondent of the St. Patrick Matric Higher Secondary School welcomed the school’s achievement in its 25th year. “It is after a break of couple of years that we have got State ranks. We aim for a holistic approach with extra-curricular activities, to help all-round development.
It is also heartening to see that the three toppers have come from different streams- Sciences, Commerce and Computer Science,” said Mr. Britto.
