Prakhar Mittal – AIR 1

Prakhar Mittal, a trained pianist has topped the CBSE Class 10th board exams with 99.8 percent. A student of DPS Gurgaon, he scored a perfect 100 in English, Maths, Science and Social Studies. The All India CBSE topper lost just 1 mark in his French exam and ended up with an incredible score of 499. Prakhar has taken the Science stream and looks forward to a career in technology. And true to his name, this smart and talented boy’s interest lies in upcoming technologies like robotics, automation and artificial intelligence. A Mozart and Beethoven fan, he took regular walks and listened to music for busting his stress and boosting his performance. In this interview to Priya Sarin, this young lad, who never let the pressure overpower him, has some very insightful tips for you. Let’s learn from the best!

To what do you owe your success? How did your teachers and parents help you achieve this feat?

>> My school has played a vital role in this entire journey. Right from the start of the year, my teachers explained all the concepts properly, cleared my doubts and helped me organise my study schedule. Our school conducted examinations throughout the year, which pushed me to study consistently, and gave me an opportunity to learn from my mistakes. My parents have always been supportive of me and never pressurised me if I did not do well in a particular exam. My mother made sure that I was following the timetable that I had made for myself and was not spending too much time on my laptop, but never let me feel that the “Boards” were a stress and meant just studying all day long. Lastly, I made honest efforts into studying, did my homework on time, solved a few sample papers and did not leave anything for the last moment; all this has definitely paid off.

‘Healthy students are successful students’ is a proven fact. Good health and well-being makes a genuine difference in students’ quality of life and productivity. How did you manage your physical and mental health during the exam season?

>> I personally am not someone who is in a perfect shape, but as far as physical health is concerned, I try my best to go for a walk or play a sport like football, as regularly as possible. I limit stress-eating ie. eating junk food under stress, during the exam season, and instead prefer fruits or salads. I believe that in order to be mentally fit, we must keep our stress level in check. My parents were of the opinion that if they ban the use of the television or switch off the Internet completely during the time of the examination, I would start feeling suffocated and instead of focusing on studies, feel more stressed. Therefore, we fixed some studying hours and some time for recreation, during which I listened to music, talked to my friends, surfed the Internet; things I would do on any normal day. Moreover, meditation and sleeping on time further enabled me to be calm, mentally fit and focused on my studies.

In today’s world, there is always more to do than you could possibly get done. How did you create a balance in your life?

>> I am sure that each one of us has had this feeling of “I have more to do than I can possibly get done.” I would say that it is important to identify our priorities: while there are things we would like to do, they might not be very urgent, and instead there might be other things which are very important. I regularly maintain a to-do list and am conscious of the tasks that are of the utmost priority to me. There have been a few times when that list is too long and I already feel tired even before I start, but I have eventually realised that this is pointless and the only way to go ahead is to get working immediately. I sit down on my desk and start the work on one task, and do not move from there until and unless I finish that, and then reward myself for completing it. In this way, I get a sense of accomplishment when I tick off one task from the list, which is the biggest source of motivation for me for doing the next task.

Achievers tend to lead an organised life and keep their priorities in check. However, it is easier said than done. Can you share any advice with your juniors on the same?

>> Maintain a to-do list, make a rough schedule for the entire day, make a detailed study schedule for the study leaves and ensure that you have all the notes, books and assignments before the exams.

What role did self-motivation and self-confidence play in your success?

>> Self-motivation and self-confidence are no doubt very important. Whenever I manage to solve a question which I had initially found tough, my morale is boosted. Also, as previously mentioned, finishing chapters and ticking tasks off my to-do list further make me feel like work is being done and are great sources of motivation.

>> Firstly, I would say that while I agree, smart studying is really important, smart studying in itself is not an alternative to studying hard. With that being said, some of the few tips for smart studying would be: see the sample paper to familiarise yourself with the paper format, see whether the questions from previous year papers are direct questions from the NCERT (or equivalent) or not, make a note of which topics are generally tested using practical-based questions or questions which required additional thinking, try to figure out which chapters or concepts are more important from an exam point-of-view (especially in subjects like Science and Social Science where the syllabus is vast), and mark the tough / important questions from the study material and solve them instead of doing all the questions during revision. 

Social media is a big distraction nowadays. How did you ensure that it did not negatively affect your performance?

>> As for class X students, there is no significant need of making an account on any social media platform. All our friends are in the same school or society or colony, and we can remain in touch with relatives via call. Social media is highly addictive and it is essential to stay away from it during these crucial high school years. The best way of controlling this will be not make an account in the first place. Whenever I sat down to study, I would keep my phone in a different room and had even switched off the notification sounds.

What was your exam game plan?

>> I reach the exam center at least 15 minutes before the commencement of the exam, make myself comfortable and keep a control on my anxiety (primarily by observing my friends around me and thinking of the party we would have at the end of the exams). I do not believe in any last minute revising because I like to be confident of my preparation and I feel it only induces a sense of confusion and doubt. During the reading time, I read all the questions carefully and I like to recite the answers in my mind quickly. However, I do have specific “game plans” for specific subjects. For instance, I like to finish the comprehension and grammar sections quickly and then spend more time on the writing and literature sections for English and French. I divide the time I should be spending on the different sections, each having different weightage, for subjects like Science and Math.

Do you have any other study tips for your juniors?

>> Read the book carefully (and that should be when the chapter is being taught in class, not just before the exam), do not hesitate to ask your doubts, and very importantly, make your own notes, not limited to just what the teacher specifically asks you to note down. If you are comfortable with a chapter, try to refer to an extra book (like RD Sharma or Exemplar for Math and Science respectively). Also, be consistent in your studies and do not give emphasis on how many hours you studied for, but instead on the portion of the chapter you studied. Don’t take stress if you don’t score well, try harder next time, and please, do not compare yourself with someone else, instead focus on self-improvement.

~ Priya Sarin
priya[at]thestudentsdigest.com  

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