Jainendrajeet changed how he approached learning. Before attending classes, he would watch educational videos to understand the basics of a topic in advance (AI generated image)Class 10 board exam marks are often seen as a defining moment in a student’s life. But for Jainendrajeet, they became the starting point of a remarkable comeback rather than the end of a dream. After scoring 54 per cent in his Class 10 boards, he refused to let the disappointing result define him.A few years later, he secured admission to IIT Bombay‘s prestigious Computer Science programme.In a YouTube video, Jainendrajeet looked back on the journey that transformed him from a student struggling with low board marks into an IIT Bombay undergraduate. He said there was no shortcut or miracle involved. The change came from identifying where he had gone wrong, improving his study techniques and showing up consistently every single day.‘Looked at my score and froze’His Class 10 board results had come as a shock — he got 41 marks in Mathematics and 48 marks in Science, far below what he had expected.Jainendrajeet explained that a major reason behind the poor performance was his health. He said he had been on bed rest for nearly 40 to 50 days before the board examinations, leaving him unable to prepare properly.Describing the moment he saw his marks, he said, “I opened the website, looked at my score and froze. My first thought was, ‘This can’t be my result.'”He said the disappointment deepened when he saw many of his classmates scoring above 90 per cent.Story continues below this adAlso Read | Bengaluru engineer returns to India after completing master’s in US: ‘I couldn’t secure a job’Instead of dwelling on the setback, however, he decided to treat it as a wake-up call. Rather than blaming circumstances, he began focusing on what he could change.He realised that if he wanted different results, he needed better discipline, stronger study habits and a more structured approach. To keep himself going, he reminded himself, “This isn’t who you are. You’re better than this.”A mindset shiftAfter Class 10, Jainendrajeet said he completely revamped the way he studied. He said he no longer believed that success came from simply spending endless hours with books. Instead, he focused on studying smarter. He created a fixed timetable, cut down on distractions, reduced his time on social media and gradually increased his daily study hours until he was consistently studying for around 10 hours a day.He also changed how he approached learning. Before attending classes, he would watch educational videos to understand the basics of a topic in advance. This made classroom lectures much easier to follow and helped him grasp concepts more effectively.Story continues below this adAnother habit that made a difference was setting achievable daily goals. Instead of studying randomly, he broke his workload into smaller targets and tracked his progress every day. He also solved previous year questions to familiarise himself with the pattern and sharpen his problem-solving abilities.Over time, he said these small but consistent improvements started paying off. He scored 99.98 percentile in JEE Main 2023 and then secured AIR 349 in JEE Advanced, earning a seat in the Computer Science programme at IIT Bombay.“Hard work beats everything… If I wanted to achieve something meaningful in life, excuses would no longer work,” Jainendrajeet summed it up in a simple message.