As long as you’re in school, preparing for the exams throughout the year, it’s quite normal to forget everyday routines that can help you stay strong while you charge ahead. Teachers will focus on assignments, parents will focus on results and you’re left striving extremely hard to make everyone proud. While that, of course, is the ultimate goal; you cannot expect great results if you’re physically and mentally weak.

“I don’t have time for fitness”

“How does physical fitness even matter now?”

“At this age, what can I do to keep myself fit and active for studies?”

Allow us to explain.

1. Eat Healthy

While you might be tempted to gorge on junk food, especially during those long study hours, we suggest you refrain from those fatty foods and focus on eating clean instead. Even eating a lot of home-cooked meals works. The idea is to avoid junk food. Junk food tends to make you feel uneasy, and also makes you feel drowsy and sleepy. Plus it will lead to unnecessary and drastic weight gain. But make sure to fuel up with food also because your brain needs glucose to function well.

2. Drink a lot of Water

Not drinking enough water will lead to headaches, sleepiness and fatigue. Carry a bottle of water with you at all times, and drink whenever you can. Keep a reminder around you to drink as much water as possible. It will help you stay alert and fresh too.

3. Sleep Well

Preparing for exams usually means a child is sleeping late and waking up super early to study and revise. The child thus misses out on the healthy, recommended 6-7 hours of sleep, which in turn leads to headaches, sleepiness, mental fatigue, irritation, hunger pangs, forgetfulness and weakness. So how does one sleep AND study? Start preparing well in advance! Make a time-table keeping in mind your sleep schedule too. You don’t want to be sitting in the exam hall staring at the question paper wondering what the answer is, because you’re too sleepy to remember.

4. Take time out for Entertainment

This does not mean you go for movies and parties every day. Dedicate an hour every day to some sort of activity that you enjoy, preferably outdoors, since a change of scenery will refresh you and help you study better. Allow yourself one day a week where you can go out for 2 hours instead of only 1, but make sure you earn those 2 hours of stress-free living. “I will watch the movie only if I complete 5 chapters of this book” sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it? This way you will also be motivated to study more. Plus taking time out for entertainment will recharge your mind.

5. Express Yourself. Reach Out.

Do not be scared to express yourself. If you do not understand something, ask your teachers. If you do not like a subject, let the teacher know (the teacher won’t be able to remove the subject from your reading list, but will definitely help you with techniques to make you learn better) Reach out to your loved ones if you feel stressed and troubled. Discuss your exam fears with your parents. Talk to teachers and parents about your life plans. Talking will help you ease the stress. Give it a try and you will know 🙂

These tips sounds extremely simple, don’t they? But you’ll be surprised to know how many people ignore the basic habits because of exam tension. Do not let it get to you, children! We’re here to help you prepare yourself for life. Reach out to us, and let’s work together to build a solid foundation for you 🙂

Choosing a stream right after your 10^th boards is one of the trickiest decisions that you’re required to make, with a very limited idea of the options available. The stress around this decision is maximum, since the subjects you select in standard eleven and twelve are studied in depth – and you would like to be wary of making the wrong decision. Of course you can change your path once you’re done with Class 12, but even studying something you don’t want to for 2 years can affect your learning curve in a negative way. In fact you might lose the will to study too! Don’t stress, while you’re with us, you don’t have to worry about your education because we help you make the choice that makes YOU happy.

While the options have been laid out clearly – Science, Commerce and Arts, the choice you make directly affects the path you choose for further studies. While it is important to make the most ideal decision, it’s equally important to know the tools to minimise your stress and be more confident of your choice. Here’s how you can go about it. Knowing what you DON’T want is also important. It is important to narrow down your options with reference to your interests and your grades. While this basic education for about 10 years is just a small step to dig into something deeper, pick out the subjects that interest you. Remember that there’s nothing wrong in being unsure of the subjects that interest you – it could be a cross disciplinary choice as well, but it’s important to gauge your interest in terms of how your mind is involved while studying these subjects and whether you make an extra effort to be more involved with them. Eliminate your weaknesses if you can’t identify your strengths – and make the choice accordingly. Check your grades, check your interests, or eliminate the options that don’t work for you – that’s the ideal concoction to making a wise choice.

Research career prospects At the age of 15, you’re rather unsure about the everyday life of any career prospect that may interest you – whether it’s a chemical engineer, an investment banker, a researcher, or a graphic designer. Remember, at this age, with the limited knowledge and exposure, it is impossible for you to wholly understand the job roles of any professional or artist. Don’t let this stress you out; instead, consult people from different fields and ask them more about what they’re required to do at work every day. Of course it isn’t easy to understand their job roles even after you learn about it from them, but a vague area of interest is important. Remember that your mind is going to evolve a lot in the next five years, and that is completely dependent on the choices you make.

Understand who you are from your parents, teachers and mentors Understand your strengths and weaknesses from people who are close to you. It’s important to take in another perspective while making life choices. You may be interested in journalism – for example, there’s much more to the field than reporting and current affairs. It’s important for you to understand if this job interests you – if you’re actively interested in reading, current affairs, and you’ve got strong people skills and research skills. These skills may exist at a very nascent stage, but make sure you consult your parents, teachers and mentors and take in their opinions as well.

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Remember that in the end, you know best. You will not be an expert since the beginning, but the next two or three years are just a training for you to dig deeper and understand what direction you would like your life to be headed. It’s not easy to make the choice at the age of 15, with limited knowledge, but remember you know yourself, and you’re surrounded by people who are looking out for you – you are going to make the best possible decision.

When I started Vidya Mandir, my goal was not merely to help students increase their grades, or aim at marks – but to establish a connection with them, in a way that they would learn more about themselves, and about life, through the process of studying at Vidya Mandir. I believe that there’s a lot to learn about yourself as you’re grasping information that’s new to you – the way you look at it, whether you question it, your interest in a specific method, or if you think it’s of no use to you. Yes, how you treat new knowledge has a lot to do with how your life shapes up!

To me, it has always been important to not just impart education in terms of scoring better in the sciences, but to help each student get more in touch with themselves through this process of learning. I’ve seen students transform from being shy and passive for two years, to being confidently curious and scoring better marks because of the change in the way they grasp the classes at Vidya Mandir.

We’ve always been friendly and less authoritative, and we’re mentors to our students if they want us to be. Education at Vidya Mandir is focused on the individual, and their personality development – and for this reason, we choose to apply the teaching methods that we do. This includes assessing students, their personalities, their friend circles, and how they perceive their environment. This process includes a fair amount of perception of the students by the teachers themselves.

I would never want to approach teaching in a technical form – where students are simply taught subjects. I would always prefer to look at teaching as an ongoing, dynamic process that moves beyond the subject matter to the larger philosophy of life. It’s heart-warming for us to be contacted by our ex-students when they cross important milestones of their lives and remember us. We’re touched by a phone call by a student who would once be the most talkative and naughty child in class, telling us about his most recent career accomplishment.

I wish the best for every pupil who comes my way – and always hope that our lessons here are more than just Mathematics and Science to them. A class is always ready for discourse, but we do aim at finishing portions and reaching targets for students as well. Somewhere, the specialized time we assign to our students makes our institute different from schools and colleges, where our time with our pupils is highly limited, and our focus, centered. Somewhere, in this short journey with our students, I look at them more than just a pupil, but an individual with different perspectives, and different sensitivities. After all, there’s so much a teacher learns in his experiences as well.

The doors of Vidya Mandir are always open to those eager to learn, and even more so, take back more than just subject matter understanding – great friendships, teacher-student relationships, and learnings for life.