The brother-sister duo acing their studies together

The Patnaik siblings may seem like your regular brother and sister, with their varying interests and contrasting personalities. Living in the culturally opulent city of hospet, flanked by popular tourist spots like Hampi and Chitradurga, the siblings hail from one of the most revered families in their city- their father, Mr. Niranjan Patnaik a pastor in their city church and mother, Vandana an accomplished teacher. However, with their different talents and passions the siblings share a common story of the love for learning inculcated in them from a young age, pushed forward by the meticulously planned learning journeys in the BYJU’S app.

An arts and crafts fanatic appearing for her 12th Board examinations, Sarah aims towards becoming a surgeon and helping the community by finding a permanent cure for Diabetes, a disease that has inflicted our country for several decades. Her love for arts and crafts grew with her as she took breaks from her studies to create origami and paper mache products that decorate her room. “ It is a ideal break element from studies. The mind cannot always be engrossed in books and study materials, it harms the student more in the long run. Plus it makes my room look pretty,” laughs Sarah.

A History session with the young enthusiasts

 A brief conversation about their interests lead to an inspiring history session for team Storyweavers as Sarah and Immanuel dived into the culture and history of their hometown Hospet. “As the story goes, about 600 years back, a rich king named Krishnadevaraya, helped the city develop with his impeccable governance. During his reign, the city roads were thronged with shop vendors selling precious gemstones, temples and monuments were built to improve infrastructure – many of which stand till date. Rumour has it that parts of his palace lie submerged under a lake where centuries old treasure lie, waiting to be discovered,” Sarah shares the tale of the siblings’ beloved city with pride adding in that over the years, the city has grown as a popular tourist and business spot.

Unique interests and plans for the future

As a child, Sarah had several passions and dreams for the future, one of them included becoming as inspirational a figure as Steve Jobs. Having read his biography at a young age, she realised that to achieve something big in life, one had to dream big early, and follow it till the end. His determination and grit, paired with her father’s encouragement towards taking up the medical field – all put together her dream of leaving her mark on the world. “I knew entering the tech field was not the right option for me and my parents never forced me into it either. I wanted to leave my mark on the world no despite my friends’ lack of faith in me and them ridiculing me for even trying to think big. I decided that I would become a surgeon and have already started research work on finding a cure for Diabetes. Imagine a time where a single shot, paired with a few simple treatments could cure Diabetes forever. That single shot should ideally start regular Insulin secretion in the body. It would be revolutionary and would ease the lives of millions of people around the world,” divulges Sarah.

A lover of movies and a bee keeping enthusiast, Immanuel is preparing for his 10th grade. His interests, like his sister’s, have evolved over the years as he started off as alover of cars and bikes. He now hopes to become an engineer in the future and make his family proud.

How BYJU’S transformed the Patnaik Siblings as students

Without a doubt Biology has always been Sarah’s forte as she states she would have preferred studying only that instead of taking Physics and Chemistry. However with the challenging question papers her marks, her parents realised that she had to put in a lot more effort to get a secure future in medicine. “That is when BYJU’S stepped into the picture. It became the perfect companion for me and my brother, Immanuel who was preparing for his 10th Boards. The way we learned concepts in our tuitions would usually send words above our heads, but once we turned to the app, concepts started to get a lot clearer. Watching the videos with real world examples, animations and graphical representations not only gave us a better understanding of the topics, but it gave space to learn and understand at our own pace and get creative with the application of the concepts. Games and movies are fun for all students, and including that in a study app makes it a lot more fun to learn.”

Immanuel adds on to his learning improvement stating, “ I can learn on my own now instead of relying on the teacher to start the topic in class. We have a day to read up on a topic before it is taught in class and spending one hour to go through the video gives me enough time to be prepared for any questions in class.”

 The small age gap between the siblings, and the fact that both of them will be giving their Board examinations together gave them a good opportunity to learn and grow together. According to the latter, his learning process would not have been as fun and effective had he not had his sister and the BYJU’S app showing him the best possible ways of learning.

We would like to thank Sarahand Immanuel’s mentor, Vedha V for her constant support and guidance and for instilling in them the love for learning, transforming them into life-long learners.

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