Let me tell you the study technique of a topper student whom I personally know.

Let me tell you the study technique of a topper student whom I personally know.

My father ( Head Of The Department, Ex-Professor, Sanskrit)

• He was overall topper in his school, as well as in college life.

• He didn't use to study through out his day but he used to study when everyone sleeps usually from 12am-6am every single day.

• He also never neglected his sleeping. He used to think about the subject even during his sleep.

• He used to evaluate himself every single day. Moreover, he didn't use to study more the day before exam.

• He didn't use to take tensions. That's why he used to keep himself free from study stuffs the day before exam for mind relaxation.

• He used to drink a lot of water to avoid getting slept.

• He sometimes used to bunk classes but did understand the thing next day from teacher.

• He didn't fear to ask questions even the silliest ones infront of the class. He cared for knowledge and ignored the laughing in background.

• He used to play outdoor games at least for 30mins to refresh his minds and increase the blood circulations in body.

• He used to maintain a constant routine which wasn't inspired by others.

• He used to research on extra topics by reading a lot of books and especially he used to make his own notes with own words.

• He used to practice his handwriting a lot to increase the readability.

• He aimed to be a professor in Sanskrit because he loved the subject. His predefined aim helped him not getting distracted by others.

• He used to rectify the mistakes of his own notes by marking himself out of some marks everyday. It helped him to progress faster.

• Sometimes, he used to spend times in Library in calm and quiet atmosphere for effective study.

• He used to do every entertaining works but was always loyal and consistent to his studies.

• When he used to encounter failures, he used to give more times on reviewing his own answer for not repeating the same mistakes again.

• He never skipped a chapter at half position no matter how much difficult it was.

The keys of the success for top students are,

“They are consistent, they make their own notes, they never skip things in the middle and they already fixed their aims to work for it.”

-Sagnik Misra
  
{ Blogger's Note: Learn from your own mistakes and from the mistakes of others. Try to learn study techniques and methods proven by Psychology and Neuroscience. And embrace the change in your learning method and revision strategy}

SSC CGL

I guess More than 40–50% of the aspirants who are going to sit in CGL 2019 think that they can definitely clear this exam.. But harsh reality is, only 8–10K are going to clear it..

It's an obvious fact but the reason I am telling you is to suggest you not to look for positive answers, motivation etc etc.. Instead, try to know How can i clear CGL 2019 if i start preparing now.. once this is fixated in your mind, i may suggest a few things…

• First thing first, Set a mindset… SSC is no less than a battlefield now and it won't be cleared with a mindset of a wooing lover who thinks SSC CGL is just an exam… So don't take your preparation lightly… And take a high aim.. a target like getting 2 digit or 3 digit rank, may be… Then start your preparation…

• Once your mindset is proper, analyse yourself. Don't ask a friend about your chances and all.. it's a stupid thing.. Download CGL2018 tier 1 papers (Qmaths will provide that for free).. attempt 5–7 mocks within 2 days.. mark your score in each section.. take average of those 5–7 mocks (section wise).. now you will know where you are at present and where you wanna reach..

• Now, real prep will begin.. Depending upon your score, you have to make a plan.. I don't want to be harsh but if your score is less than 90,100 then you need to focus on syllabus first.. finish the syllabus first..give it 1.5 to 2 months.. the 9,10th ICSE maths books are really good.. solve them for quant.. read English from any of the reputed books.. prefer NCERT for GS (if time allows, anyway i am not good at GS).. solve puzzles (any app from playstore will do)

• if your score is 100–130, well that means you have one weak section.. so focus on that and take mocks.. hell a lot of mocks.. mark your score on a chart to track your growth.. and note the new and tough questions in a separate book.. Real journey begins from here.. the only solution is, to recognise your weakness and improve.. else believe me, most aspirants stuck in this range as crossing this range takes smart work.. and some luck as well

• Now, if you are able to score 130–150 then you need to look for new type of questions.. let me be direct, you won't find new questions in the outdated famous books.. look for new questions.. you will find them on YouTube and mocks.. And may be CAT books (for quant) (but obviously it's the not the case here because you wouldn't be asking me this question if you were scoring 130+ so you can ignore this part)

• Once you are comfortable with the syllabus, then run for mocks.. give as many as you can from as many sites possible.. be ruthless about it.. Remember , Time has changed.. new questions will be asked in exams now.. both calculation and concepts will be needed… so repeating a book 5 times is a fool's errands now.. you will need to use many sources and keep them going unless you are sure you can go beyond..

• Last point, always remember it's an exam which is dependent on your mindset on That particular day, so your score will not describe your journey.. and your score in mock doesn't need to be taken very seriously.. Just keep your wits about yourself, and Go do your best..!

All the best!

-Paarth Mishra

Signs of Abusive & Manipulator Partner

1. They have different masks for different people. In public, they are nice, friendly, sweet and supportive. Behind closed doors, they are abusive, angry, insulting and demeaning. It’s almost as if you are talking to a completely different person.
2. In a heated argument, they will throw you deepest insecurities in your face. Ex. weight, financial instability, divorce, child’s death, etc. Nothing is off limits for them. They need to inflict harm and remain victorious. They will use ANY means possible to achieve it.
3. They solely care about their needs. What you can do for them. They expect you to meet them on short notice (hey let’s hang out. Can you meet me in 15?) Or they will pressure you into something you are not comfortable with (hey let’s go to my place, I got wine. Come on and you HAVE to stay over! No buts!)
4. They aren’t available during your time of need though. (hey I called you and texted you, is everything okay? After three days, you hear “I’ve been busy.”) If they do pick up, they will cut the call as soon as possible, heavily implying that you are inconveniencing them.
5. If in a relationship, all problems are to be solved with sex. They will push you to having sex even if you don’t want to. But be careful enough, to ensure that “you wanted it.”
6. Drains you mentally. They provide no support, no appreciation, care or accountability. They view you as a human garbage can, just unloading everything onto you, and when they are done, just leaving you. You as a person don’t matter to them.
7. Power control. This person always needs to keep you insecure, and feel beneath them. So they will casually poke fun about your insecurities on a regular basis. Ex. If you’re a bit on the heavy side, they will poke your stomach and say “you look pregnant.” Or if you are self conscious about your age they will say “who is going to marry you now? You are nearing 30. When will you have kids?” It doesn’t seem like a direct insult, but it’s enough to make you feel insecure about yourself. These actions are intentional.
8. Me, myself and I. You rarely find yourself able to talk around them. They are going 100 miles an hour, talking about themselves without once even asking “how are you?” as a basic formality. You don’t matter, and simply a space holder for them.
9. They are quick to apologize. But it’s not a genuine apology. No, it’s just a temporary fix. They slapped on a tiny bandage, so you would stop complaining and let them resume with their nonsense. Remember it’s not about you, but them.
10. These people will drain you of every ounce of energy you have, if you allow it. Then when you finally put your foot down, they will play themselves as the victim. How you severed the relationship or how selfish you are. It’s a mirror reflection of who they are as a person. Don’t fall for it. Leave as soon as you can.

-Waheda Islam, B.S. (Criminal Justice & Writing), John Jay College of Criminal Justice

{Blogger's Note : If any(or all) of the above point seems normal to you then be sure Either you were raised up in toxic environment thats why you consider them as a part and parcel of a relation OR  You are currently being abused and manipulated in a relation and you are trying to shut off your inner voice which screams at you. So you are forcing yourself to consider all these as normal but its not }

An IIT Campus

IIT Ropar shifted to its 525 acres campus located at Birla Seed Farms, Rupnagar, Punjab back in 2018

Here’s how the campus looks like

When you enter the campus you will be greeted by four carved Pillars of unique stories built around stone-carved central figures of the Indus Valley Civilization these pillars have molecular forms on the top giving an impression of building modern science on the base of a great civilization

Upon entering the campus we have a modern sculpture that symbolizes the Mission and Motto of IIT Ropar, which indicates three key elements in three turns of the spiral Contribution to Knowledge, Contribution to the Society and Contribution to the Nation. The motto lies in the tip धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्

Then comes the Administrative Block and Department Buildings of Computer Science, Electrical to the left of the Admin Block and the Department Buildings of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering to the right of Admin Block

ADMIN BLOCK:

Electrical Department Building:

(Inside View)

CS Department Building:

Each Department accompanies various Lecture Halls, Labs, Faculty Offices and a Seminar Hall, CS Department also houses 4 Computer Labs open 24*7

Mechanical Department:

(Inside View)

HOSTELS:

Currently, we have 4 Boys Hostel and 1 Girls Hostel

Each hostel has its common room containing a TV, Table Tennis Tables, and even a gym

1st and 2nd-year students live in double occupancy rooms while 3rd and 4th years get a single room.

The view from hostel

Mess:

Lecture Hall Complex:

It houses various classrooms and seminar halls of seating capacity of 150

IIT Ropar is completely equipped with all sports facilities (Hockey Ground, Cricket Ground, Football Ground, Badminton Complex)

Also, we have an upcoming Hall with a seating capacity of 850 and a Library which will be developed completely by the summer of 2020.

RANKING:

In Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2020 IIT Ropar was ranked in the range 301–350 the only institution in India to do so along with IISC Bangalore ahead of all the other IITs and other colleges

For more reference you can go through these articles:

Why IIT Ropar is the best-ranked university in India

Why IIT-Ropar finds itself right on top

IIT Ropar was ranked 25th in QS India Ranking,107 in QS BRICS ranking and 205th in QS Asia Rankings

In the parameter Research Quality, IIT Ropar was ahead of all the other IITs which is a testament to the great faculties at IIT Ropar who have completed there PhDs from renowned universities around the world and the strong research work going on at IIT Ropar.

Zeitgeist is the annual cultural fest of IIT Ropar held in October with a footfall of 15,000 people from around the country it is deemed as the largest Cultural Fest in the Punjab-Haryana region.

This year we had various thrilling performances including a show by the famous singer Diljit Dosanjh, Comedy Show from Zakir Khan and much more.

Zeitgeist would by far be the best time of your college life.

Here are some photos of the performance at Zeitgeist 2019:

Placements:

This year we saw various companies visiting IIT Ropar with Google, Amazon, Microsoft, eBay, Arista Networks, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Zomato, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Petroleum, Larsen & Toubro, Meritnation, Kayako, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL, Cognizant, Nagarro, R Systems, SCA Technologies, ITC InfoTech, and Avanti being the big names.

In the year 2019 90.2% of the students were placed with an average package of 14.56 LPA.

Currently, IIT Ropar would be at the 4th position in Generation 2 IITs after Hyderabad, Indore, and Gandhinagar (Although people do prefer Ropar CS over Gandhinagar CS) but the situation would be even better in the upcoming years as IIT Ropar has just started making its name in the International Rankings you can surely expect IIT Ropar to beat other 2nd Generation IITs and even be at par with the old 5 IITs in the coming years.

To sum it all up the campus is really great, This quote

“A narrow path ambling through green fields with silvery waters of the Sutlej peeping from one end and Shivalik foothills as a picturesque outline, it seems to be a drive through a typical rural landscape in Punjab. However, a couple of twists and turns later, four statesque pillars, with Indus Valley inscriptions, supporting steel-finished molecule models throw up a surprise. The first look of IIT-Ropar’s new campus is impressive.”

from the article Why IIT-Ropar finds itself right on top describes it best imo.

EDIT: Attaching some more photographs of the campus

EDIT 2: This is basically an answer to a question in the comment regarding hostels at IIT Ropar

Well first of all yeah ofcourse the hostels are inside the campus,Like all of the other IITs, IIT Ropar is fully residential, here are some more photographs of the hostels from inside

(Did I tell you that all of the buildings in IIT Ropar have a lift yet?)

So how is your dad?

So how is your dad?

‘Not doing well these days’
         

‘What happened?’

‘Nothing much, but old age problems’
            

- 
  

Before you make that diagnosis of ‘old age problem’ for your for your dad, uncle or grandparent, an aged gentleman who has recently worsened; manifested by inability to to walk, slow talk, poor memory, and cognition, consider 3 possibilities.
           

1. Hyponatremia – Low sodium is common among elders who don’t take much salt in food. Many blood-pressure medicines might also lower sodium level. Low sodium may be eminently corrected. 
       

2. Normal Pressure hydrocephalus – In this condition the hollow spaces inside the brain (the ventricles) tend to widen. A CT scan can confirm it. Few sittings of draining of cerebrospinal fluid or a shunt procedure can make a turnaround.
    

3. Subdural hemorrhage – small bleeding just outside the brain can compress the brain and create problem. In the elderly, such bleeding can come without an obvious history of head trauma. A surgical procedure cures it.
     

None of these tests cost a million; but time and again we have seen that confirmation of such a diagnosis can substantially change a demented, bedridden, blabbering elder to sit up, smile and ask for a ‘samosa’.
   

To some of us that toothless smile is like the MasterCard ad – priceless.

-Tiny Nair,MBBS,MD,DM

“I want to be a Government”

“I want to be a Government” He replied,

The entire classroom of standard 2nd started laughing over his answer when teacher asked him “what you want to be in your life?”

The 6 year old boy got really angry with the laughing kids. This is real incident of 2nd standard class of a municipality school located at very small village place called 'Nitane', which had a population of 1500 that time in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, It was the only school in the village, with only 4 class rooms in total , where villagers used to keep cattle post school hours .

No doubt his answer was quite funny but there was a reason behind this answer. This kid was born in a poor farmer's family. One day while looking at ST bus , He asked his mother “Who is the owner of such large bus..? Mother replied - "Government".

After few days, Pointing a finger at a Plane in the sky, He asked ,Who owns that plane? The innocent illiterate mother again replied - "The Government" and this left huge impact on his little brain. He was determined to become the government. This motivated him to study with true determination and work hard towards it, against all odds.

In fact after few years ,due to a drought in his village when he was in standard 7th , he had to work as a labourer for the wages of Rs 15 for per week. He set goal for himself that he will become part of government any how.

In SSC days despite very adverse condition he secured “2nd position” in the center.

Then with lots of hopes He opted for science stream for XI but the situation got worse as there was no college nearby. He got admitted to the boarding at Satane, which was located 23 kms away from his house. In highly complicated situation he paid fees in the form of 3.5 sacks of wheat.

In 12th, He studied extremely hard and succeed to score 85% but even then it seemed that God wanted to test him even further . The only available medical college for 8 district that time was BJ medical college of Pune and he lost admission to that college just by 1 Percent.

In such adverse circumstances, his father finally got frustrated and with heavy heart he said, 'farming' is the only option left and told him to give up his education. With a heavy heart he accepted this “U” turn of life as challenge and became Full-time farmer.

 Every single drop of his sweat on the field constantly reminded him about his main goal in life and it did not let him sleep at night . Some times he used to hear the sound of that 2nd standard classroom laughing at him.

One day he had some dispute with father while he was working in the field and once again his anger turned into determination , he left the farm at that moment saying that he will not take any kind of help from his father further.

He saw advertisement of Osmania Open University in news paper and decided to complete his graduation from there with distance learning program for B.A. He borrowed Rs 350 from his mother and without wasting time he obtained a admission for B.A. The stubborn boy passed all 21 written exams and graduated in one year.

He started taking efforts towards his goal. He further gathered every details of various competition examinations. He spent days and nights and studied really hard and passed the first MPSC exam for The post of PSI by securing rank 13 in Maharashtra. In addition, He also appeared for the "Combined Defense Services Exam" (CDS) and He secured “The second highest number in India" but the this fellow did not stop and started preparing for examination for the post of Deputy superintendent of police without breaking the bar.

As part of preparation He visited Ex- teachers, friends, some acquaintances, some libraries just to collect /borrow required old/used books and other necessary study material for this exam, He merely spent Rs 70 on book purchase for this exam.

With No special training , No coaching classes, No guidance, No help, No Mentor support this boy continued to study without giving up in such a dire situation and secured “2nd position“ amongst thousands of examinee from Maharashtra.

“ Try Try but Don’t Cry “ At the age of 22, this young man became the “Deputy Superintendent of Police.

He put his heart and soul for his duty but it did not refrain him from studying . Further he also completed his another course in Psychology. As a matter of fact he worked even 18 hours a day ,everyday for one of the extremely sensitive case of 1993 bombings.
While interrogating a terrorist called Faki Ali ; Entire department tried everything to break him, but he refused to open his mouth. Then this man just calmly went to him and said if he didn’t start talking, they will be going to bring his entire family to the station to watch him suffer & with this brilliant move , His behaviour shifted and within 10 minutes he had given the location of 30,000 rounds of AK56 bullets, hand grenades and guns. ( This is how his studies in Psychology helped him.)
It was biggest achievement against terrorism and It was one of the largest recovery in India .

Later on he dealt with many of the major crimes and cases intelligently and bravely. His speciality was ,he always focused on reducing crime rate with his brilliant plan of action and in fact he was extremely successful to reduce the crime rate significantly in each of his posting ; He ensured that every staff under him must understand value of team work and to be responsible and disciplined .The government honored him with various accolades for this but he always gave his credit to the junior staff. He always believed in giving credit to Team members and taking ownership of Blames.

In addition to cultivating a persistent learning attitude, he became an "IPS".

Not only that this extraordinary man also got selected for special commando training at United States of America ,in fact he won Gold medal in "Statergic Planning" topic. He was honored by the “Federal Law Entrance of United States” which was another proud moment for Indians.

The best part was; He went to US with his mother and she was very worried with the thought that “How her son will manage in US ?” as he never dealt with English language and further her son was invited to speak at "United Nations" and after 90 min speech of this small town man from Maharashtra , he got back to back round of applause in the hall of United Nations general assembly.

This is a story of his journey from Farmer to IPS.

This is Story of his real life battle.

This is story of IPS & IGP Pratap Dighavkar.

He literally Slapped to all of them with his inspiring struggle and success.

This slap was for all the students who laughed over him in that classroom of standard 2nd.

This slap was for all the people who made fun of his dreams when he was farmer.

This slap is for those who gives up in tough situations.

"Success is the Best Revenge" isn’t it ?

Further , He helped to the same old school of his village where he studied. He collected 25 Lacs for them and for needy student who want to appear for MPSC/UPSC .He started special coaching centre in the same school for MPSC/UPSC students .( Currently more than 300 students taking benefit of this facility)

He took initiative for scheme of 10000 flats only for police constables and for their widows at Panvel, Maharashtra. He approached Government of India , followed the process , kept constant track, Acquired land of 120 Acres, took all the necessary efforts so that they can get their own dream house at a subsidised rate.

He did not forget that he was farmer. He has planted and maintained over 2 lacs trees. Ministry of Forest took a note of this spectacular work and Honoured him with highest grade award of this segment.

His message for us is "Dream big , Be Confident and Don't Stop."

His struggle will inspire us forever .

“क्यू मरते है सनम के लिये

मरना है तो मरो वतन के लिये

जिंदगी मे करो कुछ ऐसा काम

तिरंगा नीचे आये तुम्हारे कफन के लिये..”

-Meera Pathare


{Bloggers Note: Here SSC means 10th Standard  }

The Kind of Things you study in Psychology

1.My Mom was suffering a bad headache that day, and asked my Dad to get her some pain killers.

My Dad got her two pills and a glass of water, and she took them immediately.

About half an hour later, my Mom was refreshed and back to alive. She felt great and full of energy again.

Actually, my Dad just gave her two pills of Vitamin C.

2.One night, my Mom couldn't fall asleep anyhow, restless in bed. She asked my Dad to get her some sleeping pills.

My Dad got her two pills and a glass of water, and she took them immediately.

 Later, she had a sound sleep like a baby.

Actually, my Dad just gave her two pills of Vitamin C.

…

These two stories happened truly in my family.

My Dad is a doctor.

This is called the Placebo Effect.

-        Shimmy He

Mastering DS & Algo for Amazon,Flipkart

I was working with TCS for 2.5 years. So if you are a fresher you might be able to crack it in lesser time.

Here is my Experience,

I started my preparation on Jan 10′th of 2018. I did not do much coding in college as i was from a circuit branch. I picked Python in the beginning, as it gave me the felxibility to just think about the logic and not that much about the syntax.

It took a months time to get myself comfortable with loops, variables, scope, storage classes, primitive data types, condition based branching and some basic problems about array’s and strings .

Then i took time to get myself used to Data structures like Linked list, hash map, Binary Tree’s, BST, DP, Backtracking, Greedy Algorithms, Heaps .

All these topics are complex and a lot of times you would feel dumb and useless when you see a new question. It took 6 months for me to not feel scared when i see a new question and see the patterns for these questions. So It was August.

Then i started leetcode grinding, solved problems, everyday. Daily one problem in the morning before i went to work , another problem after i come home. I could see myself getting better at these problems, and i gained confidence every day. I also got myself used to some basic CS fundamentals like Computer Networks, OS and DBMS and this took up two more months . So it came up to November.

And I vividly remember DEC 4 there was a Amazon SDE off campus drive which happened and i had 6 rounds ( 1 online test , followed by 4 rounds, 1 bar raiser round). I remember Acing every question and i was finally told that i am hired after the bar raiser round. I was in tears of joy, because it took a year’s effort for me. Again I was working and i learn things slowly. You might be able to complete it earlier.

There are some paid resources that would help you fast track the learning. But if you learn it the hard way, then you won’t forget it and that will be shown in the interview .

Try practicing problems in white board as you go along.

Note down why your approach did not work and note down why the right approach is working.

Revise everyday . You will be bogged down with information everyday so it is always good to make notes.

Thanks.

-Vidhya Sagar,Electroncis & Communication Engineer,PSG College of Technology

4 years of struggle

My Salary is 44000 after deducting HRA and taxes as I have got Govt. accommodation . And am I happy with this? Answer is big Yessss. So here comes my journey.

After graduating from Tier III engineering college in mechanical engineering I had not any chance for a good placement, hence I decided to prepare for GATE and join any Psu. I came Delhi in August 2014 and joined Made Easy. But Made Easy classes were very crowded and schedule is very hectic, one who has ever joined Made Easy may understand. Classes started and my problems too. In starting things where going in easy mode but as some days passed, due to hectic schedule of classes I was not able to be in line with the classes.

 In between November to December my classes were of 10–12 hours per day, I was struggling with subjects due to lack of revision. On 10′th of January 2015 core subjects were completed by Made Easy but mine preparation wasn't due to lack of revision and practice. Then came GATE 2015 and I scored very low. I was nowhere in the race of getting any Psu or any other job. In August of 2015 I was diagnosed with dengue and I have to go to Patna (My home town) for treatment. After 20 days of treatment I returned to Delhi. In September I had to appear for NPC ( National Productivity Council) exam and I cleared Prelims of that exam but sucked in mains which was the selection stage due to illness. 

I again appeared for GATE in 2016 but again failed to grab any job. Now I was devastated and was feeling very low. Till that date my preparation was financed by one of my elder cousin brother, as my own family's financial condition was not able to support me and after my two failed attempts he was not in mood to support me further. But then one of my elder cousin sister who was married and was working in SBI started supporting me financially and mentally. 

I again started my preparation and cleared prelims of 2 Psu's and got interview call in 2017 but was selected for none of them. 

That was the lowest point of my life, I started feeling depressed. But soon I understand that I have to overcome this and started practicing yoga and meditation which helped me both physically and mentally. By then everyone was suggesting me to prepare for banking jobs or any other non-tech jobs saying that engineering job is not your cup of tea but I didn't listened them. My Father used to tell me that you come here (Bihar) and do B.Ed atleast you will be able to apply for teaching jobs, but my mother and my cousin sister who was supporting me told me to do whatever you want to do. In April 2018 I apeared for Junior Engineer exam in Delhi Development Authority and got selected. 

After so many lows in those 4 years I learnt to be happy with whatever I have. I am happy because now I have not to think that how I will fullfill my basic needs, how will I help my father financially, how my siblings study will be financed. I am happy because now I have not to face those days where I had to skip evening snacks so that I can have dinner from that money. I am happy because my father always tell me that I have increased his prestige in society. 

I am happy because my mother is happy now (She used to get sad ☹️ after seeing my struggle during preparation days) . I am happy because I have kept the faith of my sister who had faith in me and financed my study all because of that 44000. This 44000 is not just 44k but key of my happiness. 

I have brought my siblings and cousins to Delhi for there further studies. My younger sister plays cricket, and she got selected in Under 19 cricket in 2018 but due to Bihar cricket internal politics her future was not safe there so I have brought her Delhi and got her admitted in a good Cricket academy. I have learnt to be happy with what God has provided us.

-Prashant Ranjan

This is the difference between those that will reach success and those that won’t.

You are on your way to the airport.   
   

It’s the first time this year that you are going on an actual holiday.
   

You booked the ticket months in advance, and have been preparing for this trip for weeks.
   

Today is finally the day on which you leave.
  

You arrive at the airport earlier than you need to, get your luggage checked in and are in front of the gate, ready to go, 2 hours in advance, when you hear this over the announcement:
  

“Flight 206 to Honolulu has been cancelled. We apologize for the inconvenience. Have a nice day.”
  

Your heart sinks into your chest. 
 

That was your flight.
  

You lean back in the chair you were sitting in, stare up at the ceiling and take a deep breath. 
 

Then you pull out your cell phone, grab your carry-on and start walking.
  

On your way to the information desk you check various’ other flights, check hotels in the area, and when you get to the information desk you ask about alternative, last-minute routes.

Within 20 minutes you have an alternative booked, have gotten your ticket refunded, and are ready to go.
  

This is the difference between those that will reach success and those that won’t.
   

---

  

The key indicator of those that will be successful later is that they do not let their situation stop them.
  

They find a way, are solution oriented, and will act a hundred times more often than they will complain.
  

Stop complaining about your situation and stop focusing on the problem. And look at what you can do now instead.
   

-Lukas Schwekendiek

I understand the material/lecture but I cant solve questions...

Ah, you’ve fallen for the understanding trap.

You attend all the lectures. You probably leave each lecture thinking “Yeah, good, I understood that.” That feeling is a seductive lie.

You study all the material. For most people, that means you reread the material to make sure you understand it. You probably walk out of your study sessions thinking “Yeah, good, I understood that.” That feeling is a seductive lie.

Applying knowledge is a skill, like basketball or carpentry or card magic. The only way to get better at a skill is by practicing that skill. You can watch Gordon Ramsay all day long, but you won’t learn how to cook unless you actually go into the kitchen, break a few pots, serve mediocre food to people, hear and learn from their criticism, go back in the kitchen, break fewer pots, make better food, and so on. The only way to learn to do the thing is by doing the thing.

So if you want to be better at applying your STEM knowledge, you have to apply your STEM knowledge. To get better at solving problems, you have to solve problems. To get better at taking exams, you have to practice the skills that the tests ask you to demonstrate. That’s hard work, not just because the subject itself is hard, but because you have to battle your own self-image. (That frustrated feeling that you’ll never be able to do this is also a seductive lie!)

So. Find a bunch of problems to solve. (You can often find them in your textbook, or in your instructor’s homework assignments.) Close the book, turn off the internet, find some blank paper, write one problem statement at the top of each page, and then start solving. When you get stuck—and you will get stuck— ask your teacher or fellow students or the internet or your textbook for help, but not help solving that specific problem. Rather, ask for help solving that kind of problem. Try to figure out why you’re getting stuck, and work on that cause. Repeat ad nauseam.

-Jeff Erickson, Professor @ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign