Hansika Shukla AIR 1 (99.8%)

Hansika Shukla, a student of Delhi Public School Ghaziabad, topped the CBSE Class 12th board exams with 99.8 percent. She secured AIR 1 by scoring a perfect 100 in History, Political Science, Vocal Music and Psychology. The All India CBSE topper lost just 1 mark in her English exam and ended up with an incredible score of 499.

Hansika Shukla, a student of Delhi Public School Ghaziabad, topped the CBSE Class 12th board exams with 99.8 percent.

She did her Class X from DPS Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad and Class XII from Delhi Public School Ghaziabad, Meerut Road. She is currently pursuing Psychology ( Hons) from LSR , Delhi University. She prefers informative books and crime fictions to watching movies and is a passionate follower of popular sports and athletes. While Hansika’s mother is an associate professor at a college in Ghaziabad, her father works as a secretary in the Rajya Sabha. In this interview to Priya Sarin, this young girl who overcame stress and anxiety to beat the boards, has some very insightful tips for you. Let’s learn from the best!

Hansika believes that her school management played a big role in her success. She would also like to share a few words about her school.

Delhi Public School Ghaziabad, established in the year 1980, is an ISO – 9001:2015 certified school. This ISA and Microsoft Showcase School is located in the heart of Ghaziabad, and is inimitable with its fine auburn architecture and panoramic expanse of fifteen acres and provides an environment that is conducive to meeting the intellectual pursuits and holistic development of over 5000 brilliant minds. With an unparalleled effective instructional design, significant learning environment is created that inspires, fosters and facilitates deeper learning.

In order to nurture students who are independent thinkers and are ready to face the rigors of life self-assuredly, DPSG also provides innovative and challenging learning environment by following the IB PYP and IBDP curriculum. The school has carved a niche for itself by being India’s top ranker day boarding school in term of academic rigor for 7 consecutive years as per a survey conducted by a national daily of great repute. The school has made steady progress over the last 39 years.

How did you overcome exam related stress and anxiety? What were your stress busters?
During the initial preparatory months, stress and anxiety had taken a heavy toll on my concentration level. It was mostly rooted in self-doubt regarding whether or not I’d recall everything and piece it together during the exam. I tried to reduce the stress with the help of my mother . She helped me shift my focus and thinking pattern toward giving my best and not concentrating on marks by being positive. While relaxing, I tried not to read anything too heavy in the news, or social media. Everything had to be in the same, qualitatively positive direction.

School and parents play a pivotal role in an achiever’s success. How did your teachers and parents help you achieve this great feat?
I can say without even a hint of doubt that parents, if they support their children in the right direction with the right level of authority, can help them get unimaginable success and heights. Most of the credit for my success goes to my mother. She gave me all kinds of emotional and physical support. My father kept a check on my negative thoughts. Needless to say, I grew closer to my parents during the twelfth grade, owing to the seriousness of the preparation that was necessary. I’m grateful to Principal and teachers for working very hard with us throughout, and they helped me believe in myself at times whenever I was nervous. Principal ma’am counselled us before the board exams and gave us valuable tips to ace the exams. The study material and the assignment spirals that were made available to us by the school management helped us immensely.

Studies have shown that having the right confidence helps boost academic performance. We know the benefits of having confidence and the harms of both over confidence and under confidence. How do you ensure that you have optimum confidence especially during exam season?
It is indeed true that having the right amount and kind of confidence can help one to succeed in any field one may wish to. During the examinations, a student’s confidence is usually dwindling back and forth. However, the only way to develop confidence is to keep a check on negative tendencies like self-doubt through organized and systematic preparations. Adhering to short term goals is important as it helps one to be confident about one’s preparation. Also, what is important is thorough revision at adequate intervals, because even if one becomes over confident, it can be balanced through continued work in the required direction. Once I started focusing only on giving my best, my confidence level increased.

Many students have trouble sleeping properly or experience change in their eating habit during the exam days. Any suggestion for them?
Change in eating habits and facing trouble while sleeping are a result of the psychological phenomenon related to examination anxiety which begins unconsciously. However, it can be checked and controlled. Students must realize that adequate sleep is very important during preparation time. When they study, they should focus on it. When they go to sleep or take a nap, they should attempt to clear their minds off everything. Try to be at peace and having a good sleep. Parents can certainly assist in this. Also, I’ve learnt the lesson of having healthy eating habits especially around exam time. As students, we should know that our concentration should be directed towards our studies and not on an empty or upset stomach. Healthy eating with a balanced diet helped me stay attentive and active.

Peer pressure can be both positive and negative. Achievers like you have have a positive impact on others. But then being a native of digital world, can you tell us how do you ensure that you remain uninfluenced by negative peer pressure?
Personally, I feel that peer pressure is a situation that can have different dimensions of experiences. At times, when I sensed that I was being too harsh on myself by making excessive comparisons, I would shake myself up and remind myself, as I feel everyone should, to believe in my own capabilities. Actually, the best way to let the peer pressure go away is to make yourself your own competitor. To be able to improve on your own previous results requires a constant source of motivation which I’ve learnt by following athletes from various sports. However, if it is too much to handle, one should really distance oneself from a potentially negative physical space.

For students of this digital age, focusing and working on one thing has become the biggest obstacle. But your results show you definitely know how to concentrate while studying. What are the main things students can do to concentrate better?
After a considerable number of trials and errors, I felt that prioritising difficult and important tasks helped me in making the studying or working process easier. I did not necessarily follow a technique per se; I did try to set short term goals and then give my all in trying to complete them. Our attention span is limited and therefore proper intervals are needed. So, I tried to focus on studying the chapters that I knew I had previously not worked on, and completing them in a stipulated time. In setting goals and attempting to achieve them, I felt my

Self control plays an important role in the life especially during the formative years. How do you avoid temptations and ensure that you remain focused on important things?
About self control, I would confess that I am still struggling to actualise it in many areas of my life! However, I know for a fact that it is always enriching to be able to reap the benefits of staying focused on the right things, and successfully resisting the urge to do something else that could have completely distracted me. Here, I have felt that setting long term goals is a great way to keep oneself focused and restrain oneself from taking the wrong path. Experiences have taught me that it is important to remind oneself of one’s aim in life. I’ve learnt this during my formative years and hopefully, I will be able to practice it when I need it in my life ahead. 

We know that we need to eat right, exercise regularly and get adequate sleep to stay healthy. ? But now, numerous scientific studies have confirmed that happiness is an integral part of well -being. What are the things that make you happy? Any tips for your juniors?
This is something that I’ve really wanted to convey to all the juniors who are trying to balance their hectic schedule, added with mental pressure from all sources. It is about the importance of one’s mental health and how it’s related to happiness and also improved performance. I firmly believe that we need to give importance to peace and calmness of mind before anything else. I took unimaginable stress during the first half of my board exams, and then I promised myself that I would not take that kind of stress ever again. I realised quite late that happiness and mental health were more important than anything else in life. So, I slowly gathered my overwhelming thoughts, tried to focus on what I had to do, and to remain practical. Things that make me happy are reading about athletes who did not give up even though they lost a match and also reading mysterious discoveries of space even though I don’t like science as a subject. I feel that students should always follow their passion as it gives immense happiness. The pursuit of happiness is realised late by most people, but as students if we know how to remain calm in any situation, it can go a long way in making us better humans and improve our performance . We can enjoy the fruits of our labour much better if we face struggles and challenges with optimism.

Priya Sarin
priya[at]thestudentsdigest.com

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