Prachi, Akshay emerge as toppers in Ranchi district

RANCHI: Prachi Kumari Khaitan of St Francis School with 97.8% and Akshay Thakur of St Xavier's School with 96.25% marks have emerged as the district toppers in the ICSE and ISC examination results respectively that were declared by the Council for The Indian School of Secondary Examinations on Friday.
Prachi was a student of St Francis School, while Akshay belongs to St Xavier's School.
But Prachi did not expect such a good show. "I was not at all expecting this (to be the topper). I was expecting good marks but had not imagined of emerging as the topper," she said.
Coming from a joint family comprising 13 members, Prachi said her family members encouraged her a lot for doing well in the examinations.
Prachi's dream is to become an engineer and crack the IIT exams for which she has already started working hard. Achieving top position in exam is not important. "More than hard work, I feel it is smart work that assures success. Focus should be more on quality of preparation and not quantity," added Prachi. "If one works consistently, one can achieve any target."
An excited Akshay gave the credit of his success to the parents and the teachers. Sharing his secret for success, he said, "I used to study eight to 10 hours a day; the result is based entirely on self study. I took guidance only in mathematics."
For Akshay, his father who is the principal scientist at ICAR research complex Palandu, was a true inspiration right from his childhood, "My father was an icon for me following whom I want to crack IIT and become a mechanical engineer," he said.
The St Xavier's student is busy preparing for IIT and has also qualified for JEE (Main) and will appear for the Advanced examinations scheduled for June 2.