While the Covid-19 pandemic had put a halt on education briefly and changed the way kids learn and interact, there was no pause on their dreams. Despite odds, we have students who made it big this year. From a teenager who got awarded among best students in the world to a student who got full marks in NEET yet breaking stereotypes. From two female students getting 100 percentile in JEE Main – the engineering entrance exam which is majorly dominated by male students and creating history.
As we look back at the outgoing year 2021, here is a dose of inspiration from the future generation.
Mrinal Kutteri: NEET topper who broke Stereotype
Mrinal secured AIR 1 in NEET 2021 just by studying for four hours a day. The topper got full marks and created an unbeatable record, however, his achievement was bigger as he broke stereotypes along with academic records.
Unlike usual when medical entrance exam toppers swore by tight schedules, long study hours, Mrinal claims to have watched sitcoms on Netflix and Amazon while preparing. Mrinal said he could not follow a fixed routine and took breaks every 45 minutes. He also inspired other students to find their own preparation modes and routines.
Also read| Indian Student Bags Schwarzman Scholarship, Aims at Helping India Achieve Zero Carbon Emission
“I used to get intimidated reading interviews of toppers who claim to study at least 12 hours a day. During the pandemic when I was at home, I had access to a phone, TV, and laptop. All these were distractions and in the beginning, I had to focus and redirect myself towards studying. It got better with time. I used to spend around 4 hours a day studying every day,” said Mrinal. The 18-year-old is now set to become the first doctor in his family.
Kavya Chopra: First Woman to top Engineering Entrance
A native of Delhi, Kavya is among the two women to have secured rank 1 in the JEE Main 2021, which is predominantly male-dominated. Chopra had scored 99.97 in the February attempt and a 100 percentile in the March attempt.
Now an IITian, Chopra told News18.com that it was her supportive parents who always treated her and her brother equally which helped her see opportunities without a less of gender.
“I was never discriminated against personally based on my gender but I am aware that not many girls in India are not as privileged as me. Even though I have never been discriminated against myself, I am aware of what other girls go through,” said the 17-year-old. She hopes her achievement “opens up doors for other girls”.
Pal Agarwal Cracked IIT, NIT, IISc Entrance
Pal, who is from Ghaziabad, had scored 99.988 percentile in February and a perfect 100 the next time. She too has broken the glass ceiling. The only year in which we had a female topper for JEE Mains, there was a tie t 100 percentile among the two young women.
Agarwal not only cleared JEE Mains but also got admission into IISc Bangalore by cracking the KVPY exam. She now aims at becoming an astrophysicist – this field too has lesser participation of women.
“My parents always treated me and my brother equally, they never made me feel that gender was a consideration while making choices. I want to become an astrophysicist; it is not seen as a women-friendly option. My parents never told me to go for computer science or any other field,” she told News18.com.
Ruparel Yuvraj
This 14-year-old from Mumbai has been honoured by The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) for his exceptional performance on the SAT, ACT, and other similar assessment tests. More 19,000 bright students from 84 countries participated in the competition and less than 20 per cent of participants qualified for the CTY High Honors Awards, Ruparel being one of them.
He represented India and became one of the best students across the world. He said that it was his love for mathematics that has helped him crack the international exams. He also qualified for CTY’s online and summer programmes.
Read| Indian Teen Avani Prashanth to Receive Global Child Prodigy Award 2022
On cracking multiple international exams, he noted that there was a vast difference between how India and the world assess students. He said, international exams are more application-based and test logic than the concepts tested in Indian exams.
Mridul Agarwal Scored Highest Ever Marks in IIT Entrance
Mridul scored the highest ever marks in JEE Advanced 2021 and secured rank 1. He obtained 348 marks out of 360 marks or 99.66 percentile. Mridul scored 348 marks out of 360 which comes around 96 per cent. Earlier, the highest marks obtained were by Chirag Falor, who had topped Advanced by scoring 352 marks with 88 per cent marks in 2020.
He also cracked the IISc entrance, KVPY as well. A native of Rajasthan, he secured a 100 percentile in the JEE Main March attempt and 99.99 percentile in the February attempt. He said that he did not have a fixed timetable but instead focused on daily targets. “Every morning I would decide on completing a topic or two per day and dig deep into each of them. If I finished before the day ended I would talk to my friends,” said Agarwal.
Read all the Latest Education News here
Comments
0 comment