Several students who made a mark in the Central Board of Secondary Education class 10 exams, not only excelled in academics, but also managed to strike a balance with their achievements in extra-curricular activities.
For Ananya Praveen, a State-level badminton player and student of Sri Kumaran Children’s Home, the means to her success was having both her home and school environments as great support. “My teachers and other faculty were extremely accommodating of my schedule and helped me with extra material and question papers,” she said.
Ananya, who scored 87% in her 10th grade exams, added that she scored well mainly because she attended three and a half hours of tuitions every day despite being unable to make it to school regularly on account of her rigorous badminton training schedule.
In the city, she was placed first in the under-19 singles held in July 2018, and this year, in the all-India under-19 singles, she proceeded to the quarter finals.
Another student who juggled the strenuous academic year along with a budding extra-curricular career is Anjana Padmanabhan, a talented singer and a student of Delhi Public School, Bangalore South.
She already has many prestigious titles to her name, including that of the 2013 winner of Junior Indian Idol, and playback singer for Kannada movies such as Kirik Love Story and Ondh Kathe Hella. “This year it has been harder to balance my music and studies than previous years, but the main reason I’ve been able to do it successfully is my goal of never leaving one for the other,” she said.
With a score of 96%, Anjana said she devoted the past few months only to studies, having been able to pursue both music and academics simultaneously over the first six to eight months of the academic year.
“Music is one of the main reasons I was able to do well. Whenever I get stressed, it was my stress-buster,” she said, adding that both her school and her parents always encouraged her music career.
Saharsha Chabbra, an international-level gymnast from DPS, Bangalore South, has secured 94%, and is a bronze medalist in aerobic gymnastics in the Asian Cup 2018 tournament held in Mongolia, aside from various other achievements at national and international competitions.
After being unable to secure a high score during midterms due to a competition she attended, she became motivated to do well in her board exams. She said, “Despite my board exams, I never missed a single day of practice. My friends and seniors helped me gather notes, and I also had to attend tuitions.”
She has ambitions to participate in the world championship next year, and wants to pursue law alongside gymnastics.
An avid footballer, Siddharth Rajesh, a student of DPS, Bangalore East, with a score of 83%, made academics his priority for the few weeks leading up to his exams, while setting aside time for football at other times of the year.
“About a month before my exams, I played for the FC Bayern Munich Tournament held at Delhi, where we were runners-up. To compensate for this lost study time, I studied extra hard during the remaining days,” he said.
Throughout the academic year, while he missed school to compete, his teachers took extra classes for him to help him catch up with portions. Siddharth has been training for the last nine years, and has represented the State at various tournaments. The school has been known to be supportive of students’ extra-curricular lives, and has even rescheduled exams for the team.
Anirudh S., who is currently preparing to take his Grade 8 piano examination conducted by Trinity College London, also excelled in his Class 10 examination, with 96%. He is a student of DPS, Bangalore North, and learns western classical piano at Bangalore School of Music.
“I studied for three to four hours every day, but made sure that I practised the piano for an hour at least. I attended piano classes even during the boards,” he said. Anirudh has dreams of becoming an automobile designer, but plans to keep playing the piano regardless of where his career may take him.
