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DIMAPUR — Sixteen-year-old Mhachilo Yanthan from Christian Hr. Sec. School, Dimapur secured an impressive 98.83%, earning her the top spot in the HSLC examination.
“It feels like a dream, as I did not expect to see my name in Top 1; thought I expected to be among the Top 20”, she told this newspaper after the results were declared on Friday.
Yanthan said the book ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear, which her vice-principal gave her, was of immense help as it taught her about forming good habits and following them effectively.
Her path to becoming a topper stands out due to her minimal reliance on tuition. Unlike many of her peers, she never sought extra academic help, except for a brief period of Hindi tuition before the exams. She attributed her success to the excellent teaching she received, coupled with her daily habit of studying for two hours after going home from school.
Yanthan said she does not actively use social media and that her hobby, besides studies, is sketching.
Aspiring to become a doctor, she intends to pursue the science stream and continue her education in Dimapur.
She credits her success to her teachers and her parents – her mother, a tutor who occasionally assisted with Maths and Hindi, and her father, a policeman.
Whenever doubts arose, Yanthan proactively sought clarification from her teachers or utilised online resources like YouTube.
100% concentration
A student of Queen Mary Hr. Sec. School in Mokokchung, Narola Imsong is ecstatic about her ranking as the HSSLC Science topper with 96.20%.
The 18-year-old said that she deactivated all her social media accounts and dedicated at least eight hours a day to her studies. She does not have any specific routine but whenever she studies, she would give 100% concentration and not dwell in any other extracurricular activities.
“Ever since I took up science stream it was not easy to balance between fun and academic so I had to make a lot of sacrifices and I did not have much fun”, Imsong said.
She shared that her mother is a housewife and her father is an instructor in Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Mokokchung.
One habit that always helps her, she said, is reading a Bible verse and praying before beginning her studies.
“Do not lose sight of what is in front of you and always put God first in whatever you do. Do not take life for granted and right now you are in the age where your future is important so you need to start thinking about your career, and do not take it lightly. Also consistently is key, put your 100% effort because you cannot turn back time,” she advised her juniors.
‘Not a bookworm’
The topper in the HSSLC Commerce Stream, Satyam Kumar Jaiswal who secured 98.40% said that he did not expect to be the topper as he missed out some questions.
Sharing about his preparation, the 18-year-old from Holy Cross Hr. Sec. School said that he is usually not a ‘bookworm’, but for few months before the exam, he gave his best and studied for about 12 hours a day.
He aspires to become a Chartered Accountant and so he plans to apply for CA Foundation and start preparations.
He also attributes his success to his school, teachers, parents and all the well-wishers. His father is a businessman and mother is a housewife.
He encouraged his juniors to “live your own life” but at the same time, remember that studies are equally important.
Meanwhile, Keletsole Mekro, the Arts streams topper with 97.40%, is no stranger to the topper list as she was also a Social Science subject topper in her HSLC exam in 2022.
Top 1 was out of the picture
“I had some hopes but I did not think I would be Top 1. That was completely out of the picture,” said the student of Dainty Buds School, Kohima, whose parents are both academicians at a reputed college.
Mekro said that she studied for 4-5 hours during normal school days but switched it up to 10-11 hours and did a lot of revision just before the exams approached.
She attributed her success to God, her school authority and teachers who encouraged her, and her family and friends who motivated her.
Congratulating all the successful candidates, she also encouraged those who did not make it this time, by saying that ‘this is not the end’ and there are lots of exams where they can do better next time.
Further, Mekro said she has interest in teaching profession and she likes sociology. However, she will be choosing Psychology subject for her further studies.