Sreejith Yesodharan of CEC-2015-BTech-CS batch has made us all proud by securing First Rank in the CUSAT BTech 2011-2015 batch. He now talks to CEC Blog on his journey to this achievement:
Disclaimer (by Sreejith): This is a work of fiction. Yet all persons, things mentioned- living or dead are in fact very much real. Any resemblance to persons and things you may know is purely intentional and deliberate.
Hi guys,
I am Sreejith Y and I am more than happy to say that I just got graduated from my college – College of Engineering, Chengannur with first rank in Computer Science and Engineering. This is a page from my heart I want to share to you all. To put it in nut shell, some of my friends in face book and whatsapp have asked about my studying strategy and my senior Arunanand T A gave me an opportunity to write an article for CEC’s blog. That is how I am here- pretty much sucking and sulking in my writing skills.
Anyway when I was in UKG, I got full marks for an exam. I didn’t know it was such a big thing, because pretty much most students in my class got full marks. But when I got home and showed the paper to my mum, her face was radiant. She hugged me, kissed me and told me “congratz monu”. When I looked into her eyes, I saw joy, pride and love. Then I started to study and work hard to see that smile in her eyes. That was my motivation, my driving force in my life. So guys, my first suggestion to you is to dig into your heart and find your driving force.
Since my school time, I was hooked into computers and I found my ambition- a computer engineer. I got allotment in CEC. We all have heard so much about Model Engineering College or TKM and how awesome it is. But I am proud to say I am a CECian. CEC has got everything to mould a person into a professional. The kickass faculty, terrific library, fully equipped labs, tech-fest, superb placement statistics, sports and arts fest- everything a student wants and needs is here.
Sreejith Yesodharan-CEC-2015-BTech-CS
Now I would like to tell you about my studying technique. I am a morning person so most of my studying is in the evening 7 pm to 10 pm and early morning 5 am to 7 am. I always study from my textbook and I can assure you that learning from one’s notebook alone is worthless. So read the portion once. I will get a vague idea about the context. Find the meaning of the portion. Then read again. After 3 or 4 times, I am sure we will get a good idea about it. Then my next task is to recall what I read. If I fail, then I will read it again.
So Read and Recall is my strategy. But how many of you know that after 24 hours, only 60 percent of what we have studied will be retained in our memory. Trust me, the only solution is this statement: ‘Revision is the principle of Memory’. That is what I do early morning of the very next day. Every night before I sleep, I used to take a glass full of water and put three or four buds of nandhyaarvattom flower (sorry I don’t know its English name).
When I wake up, the buds would have blossomed and I wash my face with the water. You know this is very good for your eyes and will help you lose the sleepiness. Then I will revise the portions I have studied the last night. This revision is necessary to find the escaped portions while I slept and to seal them back into my brain. Simple strategy huh? But very much difficult to follow and stick to it.
There are students who like to study for the exam just before one month from the starting date. They are too busy to study everyday- project, record writing, assignments, face book, whatsapp chatting can’t be avoided. But to those friends I would like to say that you too can nail the exams. During my third and fourth years, I too was unable to study daily. So I would devote 2 weeks before series exam and 1 month before semester exam for preparation. Prepare a time table to tackle all the subjects.
Studying without a time table is not at all fruitful. I would prepare a time table. Usually I study the portions for one subject and only after completing it, I will start the second subject. I don’t think studying a module from one subject and another from a different subject is good. Hence I study all subjects for the first time using my read and recall technique. I normally devote 2 or 3 days for each subject. Then I revise each subject 3 times before the exam. Trust me when I say this- reading a subject and revising it 3 times before the exam may sound NUTS to some of you. But it got me here. One month is enough guys.
After writing the series exams, you will have some idea about all modules even if u have bunked classes. I can vouch for it- only revision can help you tackle the exam. “3 times revision!! R u kidding me? HELL NO” – you may be saying this in your mind right now. But try this at least once in any semester.
My success is nothing without the help of my teachers. I was blessed to get some terrific teachers in CEC. There are four personalities in CEC I absolutely adore, respect and worship: Smitha Miss, HOD (C.S), Renu Miss, Manjusha Miss and Sheeba Miss. My ambition when I joined CEC was to get placed in an IT company. But the encounter with these people have literally opened my eyes about teaching profession. Their devotion and passion for teaching, intelligence, helping with any crisis of the students is remarkable. Whenever something let me down, I used to talk to any of them. They would advise me and tell me what to do. You know engineering is not at all easy.
Sometimes the burden will be so much that I wanted to quit. I am embarrassed to say I used to run from things back then. But talking with my teachers made me realise running doesn’t solve things. So I found out, when engineering gives you lemons, you must make lemonade.
Am I boring yaar? I just want to tell you some tips. This is the end, I promise.
- Writing exams is not at all easy. Write answers in a neat and systematic way. Feel free to use underlines, symbols like * etc.
- Try to include pictures in your answer especially for essay questions.
- Every semester is cursed with at least one hard subject. So try to study that subject’s portions daily.
- Never by-heart answers. Always understand the meaning of the context.
- Talk to your teachers and seniors and keep a friendly relation. They can help you in many ways.
- Choose your mini project and main project topics wisely. Don’t do it as a ‘chadangu’. It’s where you have to show your uniqueness.
- DSP in sixth semester is every student’s engineer. I strongly recommend you to study it daily. Try to work out as many problems you can.
- While preparing for your university exams, don’t forget to check previous year questions.
- Read English books and novels. This will help in developing a good vocabulary which will definitely come in handy during placement time.
- Be yourself. But update your own version. A professional doesn’t mean one with technical skills only. Character is also very much important.
- Teachers may scold you. But instead of exploding, just think for a moment if they are right and do what is right.
- Be brave to stand out.
These are the things that helped me till now. My ambition is to pursue my masters and then go for civil service. I want to get to a position that is challenging, risky and financially stable. I would like to earn money and share it for the society also. I want to leave my signature as both a professional and a human.
Thank You,
Sreejith Y