From IB Topper to Future Scientist: A journey of resilience

Meet Ananya Gupta, a student at Apeejay International School, Panchsheel Park.  This distinguished top performer has achieved an outstanding score of 38/45 in her IB academics (DP-II). Her exceptional efforts have earned her a prestigious scholarship of $110,000, and she is now set to embark on her journey to study Molecular Biology at the University of Toronto.

“I dedicated myself to earning this scholarship, motivated by the sacrifices my parents made for my education. Now that I’ve achieved this milestone, my goal is to attend university, secure a job, and continue my journey independently,” Ananya shared.

Read more to learn about Ananya’s inspiring academic journey and her future endeavours.

Tell us about yourself.

I’m, at present, preparing to attend the University of Toronto, where I plan to pursue a major in Molecular Biology with minors in Economics and English. I have a deep love for art and enjoy reading in my spare time.

What study technique did you follow for the preparation of your exam?

There were no specific study techniques because the idea itself follows an inquiry-based learning pattern, where the entire model depends on the student. I discovered Justin Sunk, whose role in learning and the psychology behind it helped me a lot. The entire course structure was extensive, and his study techniques were incredibly beneficial for me.

How did you exactly manage your time effectively to cover such an extensive IB curriculum?

It has been quite a rollercoaster ride. Looking back, I realise things could have been a bit better organised. For example, we could have completed most of our Science internal assessments (IA) earlier. This would have allowed us more time to focus on our syllabus instead of cramming everything into the last few months. Many of us found this tenure to be stressful as we were primarily focused on the IA and neglected our external studies.

Despite the challenges, I managed my time well. I worked diligently on my IA and met all the deadlines. In terms of studying, I stayed up to date with all my classes and was very responsive during lessons. This helped me retain everything we covered in class, so I didn’t have to do much additional work at home. At home, I focused on completing assignments.

What was your biggest motivation?

University has always been the ultimate goal for most of us, so it wasn’t just about the scores. Right now, we’re all coping by checking if we have met our conditional offers and making peace with our results. Today, when I found out I got the scholarship, I was content. My parents have always supported me, and I’ve always wanted to give back to them and become financially independent. Seeing them work hard and make many sacrifices for me made me realise that I needed to achieve this on my own.

How do you think that your teachers and the school have supported your academy journey?

They’ve been with us through every milestone, including our internal assessments (IA). Since there were just nine of us, they supported us every step of the way. Initially, it was a bit challenging as we all came from different schools and were somewhat disoriented. It took us some time to adjust and get on track. But by the end of DP-I, we had become very familiar with each other and our teachers. This familiarity was crucial in our second year, as our teachers provided significant help with our IA and writing our letters of recommendation (LORs).

What was the biggest challenge that you faced during IB studies and how were you able to overcome that?

My biggest challenge in the second year was the unexpected workload. The first year seemed seamless as we transitioned from a CBSE background to IB, but the second year hit quite hard with IA deadlines, EE, and TOK. A friend and I were undecided about studying in Canada, the UK, the US, or Australia, so we had to prepare for multiple applications. We took additional classes for the EE and TOK after school, making our schedules extremely hectic. School ended at 3 pm, and we often didn’t get home until 6:30 PM. This intense period burnt me out, and I couldn’t do any schoolwork in the evenings. Despite this effort, I didn’t achieve the score I wanted on my first try. However, after two months of perseverance, I finally reached my desired score.

What strategy would you like to recommend for managing stress and maintaining a healthy balance?

Journaling helped me a lot. I was the only person in my class who carried a journal everywhere, every day. Whenever I felt stressed, I would write down my feelings, which helped me process a lot of things. As students, we not only have academic pressures but also personal issues and social lives to manage, which can create a lot of chaos and impact our mental health. Journaling, talking to my friends, and maintaining a work-life balance were essential for me during this time.

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