Affan Abdul Deraiya
A student of Fountainhead school since 2nd grade, Affan Deraiya made his school and parents proud by excelling in his tenth grade Cambridge IGCSE examinations. He has a keen interest in computers and tries to learn programming languages and stuff about computer in his free time. Last year, his school participated in a inter-school competition called AppsCon in which the students had to give a design for an application which solves a problem and Affan’s team again made the school proud by securing second position. His hobbies and passions include playing basketball and guitar. He has been playing guitar since he was a kid and it is his getaway from the world when he needs some personal time. Like a true achiever, he believes that every once in a while a person should sit back and think upon where he/she is going with their life. And this is exactly what Affan does while playing his guitar. Apart from being academically bright, he also plays basketball and has taken part in several competitions. He thinks that playing basketball has been a big factor for his success because it balances out the studies and health, which he believes is very necessary for the mind. This wise young lad says that physical activity helps the mind to get refreshed and in turn the mind starts to concentrate more on studies. And in this interview, he will share many more amazing study tips and techniques. Let’s get inspired!
Good schooling and proper parental support are the main pillars behind every student’s success. What role did your teachers and parents play in your success?
>> It is true that good schooling and proper parental support are the main pillars behind success and my school and parents have been great pillars for me. The teachers used to always be available for us and used to personally come and ask us if we had any doubts and if we ever had doubts even small ones, they wouldn’t hesitate and would solve our doubts immediately. Our teachers have always been there and on every step would keep on motivating us. There were some times when I wouldn’t perform as per my capabilities and my teachers would always be there to guide me and counsel me on how to improve and it served as a good motivation for me. My parents have also been very great pillars for success. Every night during dinner they would ask me if everything is going alright and if I needed help in studying. This always kept me going, knowing that I have my parents support and they will be there on every step. If I ever needed emotional help I knew I could go and talk to them as they would listen to me and would understand what is going on, this always helped me as I would never have any bad pressure upon me and would always be free minded while studying.
Positive thinking is an essential trait that differentiates the toppers from struggling students. It helps them to meet the challenges of life head on and achieve success. Can you suggest a few habits which can help your juniors remain positive in today’s world?
>> The best advice to stay positive is to not let people demotivate you and you don’t demotivate yourself, you might get bad grades at first but trust me if you work hard enough A’s and A*’s aren’t far away. Hammering your mind that why can’t you perform well won’t do the work, you just have to find out your mistakes and work on them. Eventually with time your grades will improve, just a little patience and hard work is needed. The main trick to think positive is to keep your mind happy, don’t spend your whole time on studies, give some time to your friends and yourself too. Giving equal importance to your hobbies and things which make you happy is essential for a happy and clear mind. A clear mind works a lot better than a disturbed mind in studying. Teenage is a time in life where there are many hormonal changes which could lead to unhappiness, but the best way is to let it all out, tell whatever is going on in your mind to your parents or teachers or even your friends whom you trust. Letting it out gives a little peace to your mind and makes the mind feel lighter from the problems. What juniors should do is learn to balance out their life by giving equal importance to both studies and mental health.
A good revision is the key to excelling in exams. During exam days, how do you revise your lessons and ensure a quick brush up?
>> Revision is an important thing, doing past papers and revising the whole syllabus at least twice before the final exams helps a lot, it helps to find doubts if any are left and it builds up confidence in you that you are ready for the exam. What I had done was that I made an excel sheet and made a whole timetable including the days remaining and colour coded it according to the subjects so every morning I would wake up, see what to study and make sure I completed that much every day and if the timetable is followed properly all revision and past papers are completed on time. The best way to revise is to first complete the theory part of whole syllabus and then cross check with the syllabus and mark the pointers you know and the ones you have problems in, this helps in segregating your doubts so you can ask your teachers. Going through the syllabus at least twice is a good option so you are thorough with the concepts and once concepts are done start with the past papers and do as much as you can. Doing past paper really helps as you get to know how to frame your answer and get used to how the paper will come. Doing past papers with the track of time helps as you get to know how much time you are able to complete your paper in. A quick brush up could be done by going through the syllabus pointers and refreshing the concepts in mind every once in a while.
To succeed in annual exams, one needs to be consistent in his or her studies throughout the year. But it is easier said than done and one is likely to burn out. What are the things that helped you overcome mental and emotional fatigue?
>> The things that helped me overcome emotional fatigue were that I used to tell everything to my mom and dad and they used to listen very patiently and help me out. If there were problems I would go tell them and we together used to bring solutions. Being consistent throughout the year is hard and personally even I used to burn out every once in a while, but then what kept me going was the support of my teachers and parents and their motivation. My hobbies include playing basketball and guitar, so whenever I used to burn out and be tired from studies, I would go play basketball with friends or play my guitar and have some me time. Having personal time is important as it helps in reflecting on what is going on and you can take decisions with a clear mind. So to overcome emotional fatigue do what you love most when you are tired of studying and don’t force yourself to study when you aren’t ready. It would be a waste of time as your mind would wander around while studying and you wouldn’t be able to study properly whereas studying when you are in a good mood helps to grasp things easily because you have a clear mind and can grab hold of new things.
Being bored is almost impossible in this digital age. But then, boredom has been proven to boost creative thinking. Do you spend some tech-free time to clear your mind? Does it help?
>> Yes, I spend some tech-free time playing my guitar and it helps in self-reflection. You realize where you are going wrong and you can come up with solutions which then boost your studies and grades as you keep solving your problems. People may have different ways to spend time tech-free but it is a good habit to spend at least one-two hours tech-free everyday which helps to clear your mind off things and you can focus on things better.
A curious mind plays an important role in a student’s quest for knowledge. It helps him learn new things and become better. What are your views on the importance of being curious and inquisitive?
>> I personally believe having a curious mind plays a crucial role as you keep on exploring different areas and you get to learn things which keep your mind engaged. I used to be very curious and would ask my teachers things which used to be out of syllabus but they didn’t hesitate and explained me everything so it kept on feeding my curious mind and I got engaged in learning more and more. Having a curious mind helps as it keeps on wanting to know more and more and you eventually become interested in studying things.
Routines are important to lead an organised and successful life. Though most students are good at setting routines, when it comes to following them, they fail. Any tips for such students?
>> Making timetables and daily goals helps a lot. Small goals should be formed which can be completed in a day and accomplishing them in turn motivates us to complete more daily goals. Timetables should be in a form that these many topics should be covered per day and should be accomplished. Specifying the number of hours or to study between a range of time might make the student rush things. So instead topics should be distributed per day so that the student can complete the topics in their own pace and studies freely without any barrier of time.
Self-motivation and self-control seem to be a better predictor of success than IQ in school and beyond. Do you agree? Why?
>> Self-motivation and self-control is a better predictor of success than IQ because a person with higher IQ would be getting great marks but if he doesn’t have self-control he could be easily absorbed by the success and then eventually come down whereas if a person has great self-motivation and self-control he could motivate himself to perform better and once he starts performing better, self-control is a necessary thing so that he stays consistent and don’t get consumed by the success so much that he eventually starts failing again. Self-motivation can make you accomplish goals which only IQ couldn’t do, so self-motivation and self-control is a better predictor of success in terms of school and life beyond school.
~ Priya Sarin
priya[at]thestudentsdigest.com
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