Gnanaswarup Srinivasan
Swarup, a student of APL Global School was awarded ‘Top in the World’ by Cambridge Assessment International Education. His near and dear ones consider him an ‘academically oriented’ person and Swarup feels that it is indeed true. Apart from academics, his true passion lies in computers. He is more intrigued by computers and their possibilities than by what common trends have to offer. But he believes that’s not all that aided him in obtaining this achievement. Luckily, he was a student of APL Global School, a school that focusses on brain development and inspires the creative best in students by giving them an opportunity to realise their unique potential.
In this interview with Priya Sarin, he reveals some of his study secrets and techniques to help his juniors excel in exams. Let’s learn from this Champion and try to follow his footsteps.
How did your school and parents help you achieve this feat?
>> My parents were beyond reproach. They always pushed me to work harder and do better. My school’s flexibility and approachability made it even easier for me to fill my head with the knowledge I wanted. I believe that these are essential things every student must ensure that they make the best use of. However, I didn’t always get everything I wanted to aid in my education, but anybody can excel, if they make do with what they get and put in the effort.
Swarup, a student of APL Global School was awarded the ‘Top in the World’ by Cambridge Assessment International Education.
Students consider physical health as well-being but winners like you know that well-being is a broad concept which includes good brainpower too. Any simple tips you would like to share for boosting the brainpower?
>> I believe that well-being does extend to both physical and mental health. All students probably have enough brain power to achieve their goals. However, personally, I feel to ensure you make use of your brain’s capacity, one needs to keep a clear and calm mind. But making sure of this is a very personal process. For me, I found that I could clear my head by going jogging every morning for half an hour to get a fresh start to face the day ahead. Another strategy I’ve found helpful is meditation. Just sitting quietly for even 15 minutes calms down most of what is going on in my head. However, one has to make sure that when they clear their head, it stays clear and that can only be done by having a good mindset, focusing on the current day, facing current challenges, making sure you don’t regret the past, or worry about the future. Of course, these methods did help me out, but I feel this is a personal process, that each student needs to discover how they’re able to ensure their mental well-being.
Thanks to our hectic lifestyles, nowadays most people find it hard to prioritise. But your results show that you surely know how to manage your priorities and create a balance in your life. Can you guide others on the same?
>> A lot of people feel that to achieve well, you need to study all day and all night but that’s not really true. To achieve well, all one really needs is to balance their life properly, between entertainment, physical activity, and education. You shouldn’t study all day, but you still should push yourself to study. It’s not about how long you study, rather it’s about how well you study. For balancing life, I just never bit off more than I could chew. I tried new things and all but in the end, you have to make a choice between certain things. It’s all about knowing what you really want, and working towards it.
How did you overcome exam related stress and anxiety? What were your stress busters?
>> To be honest, stress busting and brain power boosting required similar solutions. I got stressed pretty often but the key thing that helped me was ensuring I kept a clear mind, focused on only what needs to be focused and pushed through it. When you get stressed out, you have to remember your motivations for doing what you’re doing.
A common complaint among most students is that they find it hard to concentrate. Any tips on the same?
>> Well, once again, the brain power boosting methods apply here. The core, essential and most important thing a person needs to be able to concentrate is a clear mind. Without a clear mind, I feel you have no hope of concentrating well. Once you have your mind straight and motivated, employing methods to clear your head, you should have no problems concentrating. However when sometimes your brain feels overloaded, and you just can’t seem to concentrate, it’s vital to take a break to calm yourself. Because like I’ve mentioned before, it’s not about how long you study, rather about how well you study in the times that you do.
Some students are overconfident while others are under-confident. But toppers know how to maintain optimum confidence. How did you ensure that you stayed motivated and confident?
>> This certain trait I feel I’ve gotten from experience. The key thing to remember is that you must always expect the worst, but hope for the best. I personally maintained my confidence by not worrying or getting overconfident about the past, or the future. Even days before the exam, I always told myself to study and perform my best in the moment, and never to think about my results.
Good memory is vital for success in exams. How did you ensure that you are able to remember and recall what you have studied?
>> Well, once again, maintaining a clear mind comes into the picture. If you ensure you have a calm and composed mind, you’ll have enough brain power and concentration to root knowledge into your memory and to use this knowledge later on. Cramming never helps. I found that I was able to reciprocate any knowledge I gained when I maintained a clear and composed mind.
Can you share a few study techniques and tips that you followed?
>> Always enjoy what you do. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it well. Even if you dislike a certain subject, for instance I used to really dislike English a lot, if you slowly practice more and more and tell yourself that the subject is interesting, and that you’re just not seeing the good parts of it, you’ll eventually grow to actually like a subject. Who doesn’t like something they’re good at?
Any specific things you kept in your mind while giving the exams?
>> Never study too much right before the exam. Whenever any exam was about to start, all I’d do is compose myself and my thoughts. Sometimes my good ol’ friends would ask me these extremely difficult questions, which half the time I had no clue what they were talking about but I feel that it just demotivates you and pressurizes you and you end up messing up what you already know. So right before the exam, just take a breather, calm down, compose yourself and face the challenge!
~ Priya Sarin
priya[at]thestudentsdigest.com
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