Jasmine Chahal – AIR 2

Jasmine Chahal of St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar brought laurels to her school and the city by grabbing AIR 2 in the ICSE Class X examination. She scored 99.2 percent overall with a perfect 100 in Social Studies, Mathematics and Computer Science and 98 in Science, English and Punjabi. A book lover by nature, this humble girl thanks her school and parents for helping her achieve this remarkable feat. Apart from academics, she took active part in several quizzes (subject-specific as well as general knowledge related) held at school as well as state levels. She is extremely interested in intra-school debates, declamations and assemblies. She also loves to take part in inter-school extempore competitions. Her hobbies include dancing and reading. She has been pursuing public speaking and gymming from a tender age, thanks to her parents’ emphasis on her all-round development. Her parents always wanted her to be assiduous, ebullient as well as physically fit.

And like a true achiever, she has her short-term goals synced with her long-term goals. In future, this meritorious student wants to pursue engineering from Harvard University or any of the Ivy League schools in the US. She wants to study in an atmosphere with students hailing from multifarious backgrounds. She believes that the international exposure and once in a lifetime experience in these schools are beyond imagination and the best. Presently, she is researching about the best courses and their professors in those universities. And like a true achiever, instead of relishing in her success, she has already started working hard for her next goal. In this interview with Priya Sarin, this wise and practical girl is here to help you ace your exams with her insightful, easy-to-follow and effective tips. Let’s pay heed to this young champion and follow her lead.

What role did your school and parents play in your achievements?

>> I owe my success to my teachers, parents and god for I am nothing without them. I believe that it all comes down to the environment around you and guidance, however sharp you might be. The competitive environment at the school and the motivation that the teachers instilled in me played a huge role. Moreover, I consider myself blessed to have such caring and cooperative parents who never pressurised me. They acknowledged the fact that you don’t need percentage to define yourself but hard-work and virtues.

Students consider physical health as well being but winners like you that well being is broad concept which includes brain power too. Any special tips you would like to share for boosting brain power and improving concentration and memory?

>> The most effective way of enhancing your focusing ability is not to be a bookworm. Taking studies as an unwanted burden does not help. Personally, when I didn’t feel like studying, I engaged myself into sports or small excursions. But when I had the full heart to study, I gave it my best shot. Another thing that helped me was studying on a whiteboard and speaking out loud in seclusion.

How did you overcome exam related stress and anxiety? What were your stress busters?

>> Frankly, I never took exam related stress and anxiety. I always considered my exams as a challenge. Since I was not under pressure to get a perfect score, I wasn’t really anxious during my exam.

Self-motivation and self-confidence play an important role in success. How did you insure you stay motivated?

>> My mother played a colossal role to motivate me and helped me push the limits. It is important to work on yourself rather than being enviable about others achievements. Studying everyday and planning weekly goals also boosted my confidence.

Achievers tend to lead an organised life. How do you deal with the clutter and ensure that it doesn’t come in way of your success march?

>> The greatest mantra for organising your life is to be passionate about your studies. Being active throughout the day, involved in activities other than studies and segregating large chapters into small topics are some tips which helped me organise my studies and not take too much burden or stress.

Can you share a few study techniques and tips that you followed to make studying easier and fun?

# I used to help my counterparts in understanding various topics. Often, I used to teach my friends! This not only made the concepts more clear to me but also I earned many blessings from them.

# I solved past 10 year question bank in the last 4 months of the session after I had my fundamentals clear.

# Understanding the format and the type of questions that you may encounter is the key. I carefully analysed the answer keys of the past year ICSE toppers before appearing for the exams.

Little things make big difference. Any specific things you kept in your mind while giving your exams?

>> During my exams, I managed not to be frantic but to be optimistic. Spending quality time with my dear ones, which is a luxury in today’s world, also helped.

I abstained myself from indulging in unproductive tasks and using social media websites. Moreover, I tried to answer all questions briefly, keeping in mind the keywords and diagrams, so that I could have ample amount of time to re-evaluate my answers.

~ Priya Sarin
priya[at]thestudentsdigest.com

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