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With 98.4% in his boards, Aditya Phillips is our Grade X CBSE school topper, also featuring in the list of leading toppers in Bangalore. We sat down with the young achiever to hear his side of the story.
Did he see this coming?
“I didn’t expect to do so well. I was pretty happy after the board exams because they went well for me. We were at a school-house meeting when the results came out and it took me more than a few glances to really accept my score. When I got to know that I had topped the school, and the city, it was pure elation.”
Having consistently been in the top three performers in his class, Aditya credits his playtime for his success,
“I found the right balance between play time and study time. I made sure I immersed myself in an outdoor activity for at least two hours a day. I also practice Karate. On an average, I would study for three to four hours. I believe being attentive in class and understanding basic concepts while they are being taught is half the work done. My study time usually revolved around revising these topics.”
I remember getting serious about my studies in January. By this time we were getting a lot of support from our teachers. They were giving us question papers and practice problems, answering our doubts and encouraging us to do better.
Do solving old question papers help?
“Hindi hasn’t been my strong point. My Hindi teacher recommended that I solve previous year question papers and that helped me pull through the finals.”
On being asked if he had any advice for his juniors, Aditya stressed on the importance of pre-boards,
“I think preparing for your preparatory papers is half the battle won. The difficulty levels are slightly higher in case of these exams when compared to the finals. Not only will it serve as a confidence boost, you will also be able to identify key areas where you can improve”
With that nugget of advice, Aditya was also quick to note that the Board finals are just another exam and that students should not be too worried about it.
“I remember making silly errors in Mathematics. Solving problems and managing time proved to be a tricky task. Worrying about it got me nowhere. Instead, I focussed on practice questions and previous year papers which helped me a great deal”
To top the CBSE Boards is no easy feat, so we prodded Aditya to share his study schedule during his finals,
“Two days prior to the exam, I would thoroughly revise difficult topics. The day before the exam would be reserved for revising easy concepts. Once done, I would skim through everything I had covered the previous day.”
What was his coping mechanism during the exams?
“I like reading detective novels – I did a lot of reading during the exams. Not only did it help me with my English, it also helped me let off some steam from all the studying.”
Having appeared in the city’s newspapers, we asked him how it felt to be in the spotlight as one of Bangalore’s toppers,
“It was quite an exciting week. My parents were over the moon. Friends and family called in to congratulate me. It was a privilege to see my story feature in the papers too.”
Crediting his achievement to the school and his teachers, Aditya believes the academic environment at CMRNPS helped him, also highlighting the support he received from his classmates,
“Our teachers were very supportive, spending all their time with us, ensuring that we had ample practice and that our doubts were cleared. We had a lively atmosphere in class – everyone was ready to help in their own special way; no one felt the pressure to perform. If an easy solution was found for a particular problem, it would be shared with everyone in the class.”
Here is what Ms. Shyla Purushotham, Vice Principal, CMRNPS and some of Aditya’s teachers had to say about him,
Hear From Our Toppers
Securing 97.2% in the Grade XII CBSE Board examination, Ms. Madhoolika Gangaraju not only topped our school but is also one of Bangalore’s toppers. Leading the city’s CBSE results is no easy feat, so we got in touch with her, to understand how she pulled it off – read here.
