Excelling in Math is just a swipe away

Shivam Shukla, like thousands of students across India spent late nights, practicing math problems, filling up registers and worksheets. Learning formulas, going through innumerable guide books, putting in hours of efforts but without reaping any tangible benefits. Despite the hours of hard work put in, Shivam and his parents could not put their finger on the one thing missing from his learning style – the love for the subject.

“I never thought I could actually love Math, I felt only Math geniuses or smart engineers truly loved Math. How much change could one bring to the way math was being taught, to make a student have a completely different mind set about it?” Shivam shares his first thoughts when addressing his need to better himself at a subject that was going to accompany him for several more years.

Growing up in Liluah, a small district near Howrah, Shivam first came across the BYJU’S app in an online article 3 years back. The article mentioned the app to be the first of its kind in India, providing students a completely new way of learning. “I remember telling my parents that I would probably not need any coaching etc. in Math if I got my hands on this app and that proved to be true. Over the 2.5 years  of using the app, I have become more self-reliant and have the freedom of studying at my own pace, scoring better at the same time.”

Shivam, steps out of his curriculum to pursue his hobby of working with and making new things on “Raspberyy Pi” and “Arduino”, electrical components that require special levels of programming. A complex field, way above his grade level, Shivam believes that his confidence with programming and his curiosity increased ever since he started using the BYJU’S app.  

“I could never have dreamed of taking up programming and development as a hobby if I had not got my basics in place. BYJU’S gave me the platform to understand concepts better and gain confidence,” shares Shivam.

Talking about his favourite teacher and topic on the app, Shivam divulges the secret behind creating the best classroom for a student. According to him, Byju Raveendran along with the concepts of Triangles make the most interesting chapter on the app. Equating watching and learning the concepts of Triangles with fun games and videos on a computer system, Shivam’s journey with the app has always been filled with fun and excitement – “something akin to watching the Discovery channel.” What he finds most interesting about the app is how personalised it is to a student’s learning needs. Any hiccup in the learning flow, the app understands the area you are weak in and tracks you back to the videos that explain the concepts better. Talking about his favourite and most beneficial component of the app, Shivam says “The learning journey often reminds me of mobile games these days, where you can go ahead only if you have completed a particular level, in the same way, I can proceed to newer concepts only when I have the previous concepts in place.”

With dreams of becoming a Cardiothoracic surgeon, Shivam and his parents brace for the crucial preparation years starting from 10th onwards. “As the board examinations approach closer, and with the increasing course material, it becomes vital for students to get their concepts in place. Ignoring conceptual understanding only lead to a bottleneck of issues with the subject,” states Shivam’s father.

Forever fascinated by the human body, Shivam aims at taking up this challenging career to help people around the world, specially at a time when bad diets and artificially generated consumer items are leading to increased heart issues. Being an Indian, he also hopes to be able to impart free medical aid to people who need it. Fueled by this dream, inspired by the entrepreneurial and innovative skills of his idol Byju sir, he hopes to bring about a revolution in the field of heart surgeries to safeguard people from cardiac arrests, so that none of them lead to eventual deaths.

With an ambitious eye on his future, a clear and focused mind and a revolutionary app by his side, Shivam prepares himself for a future replete with multitudes of concepts, fat books and examinations. He however does not seem to have any underlying nervousness or doubt in his mind. “It is amazing how one app can bring about so much hope in a student’s life. I feel the app is the most patient teacher (laughs as he says this). Any child or student can sit and keep revisiting the videos in case of doubts. I never have to hesitate or carry doubts for very long and no concept goes uncleared.”

Like this story? Read similar stories on The Learning Tree page.