Study with the gang on YouTube

Shrutakeerti P Nadagoudapatil is a NEET National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test aspirant from Bengaluru What that means is that she is always studying If she does get some time off she studies in that window too But she does it online with thousands of others who gain motivation from her When she breaks for coffee they do too when she has lunch they also walk away for a bite when she skips boring physics and reaches out for a biology text book so do theyNadagoudapatil 17 is one of several studying with an online community leading them to academic perseverance But she says she stands apart ldquoMost lsquostudywithmersquo videos on YouTube are super perfect Students wake up at 5 am to study Itrsquos not sustainable in the long run I am raw and real If I get bored I say I am boredrdquo Nadagoudapatil tells usUmesh recently completed a 12hour streaming study session on YouTubeNadagoudapatilrsquos parents are doctors practicing in North Karnataka She is studying to be an ophthalmologist and launched her YouTube channel last September after the first studywithme video she posted got three lakh views She is now part of a growing tribe of teenagers who are known as lsquostudywithme YouTubersrsquo and create productivity videosThe trend started with medical students but now covers students studying to enter a variety of streams According to YouTube the number of studywithme videos uploaded by medical students tripled between 2019 and 2020 Most of these are two to four hours long though there are some that go on for 10 hours as wellShrutakeerti P Nadagoudapatil is a NEET aspirant from Bengaluru who would rather make ldquostudywithmerdquo videos than hang with real friendsMany of them use the Pomodoro Technique a time management method that portions work sessions into chunks marked by periods of short rest This genre of videos seems to have first gathered followers in South Korea but now is popular all over the world enjoying millions of viewsNadagoudapatil now has 25100 subscribers and says that she is compelled to pay attention to the thinks videorsquos aesthetic appeal before she puts it up ldquoI sometimes wonder if I should have a sunrise or sunset behind me or if I want to take a break and show myself eating ice cream I think these videos work because kids my age have no motivation and being on my channel is like hanging out with a friend I am the average student and they can relate to merdquoHvovi Bhagwagar and Anastasia DedhiaHer parents have accepted this strange form of content creation as her hobby and donrsquot mind it until it interferes with her own studying She quips ldquoLittle do they know I rather study and hang out on YouTube than with my real friendsrdquoWhile content creation for hand held devices and interest in video has grown manifold during the pandemic it seems to have permeated the education sector too Clinical psychologist Anastasia Dedhia says that adolescents have almost stopped reading This is a visual generation ldquoThis way they can also avoid social contact So they donrsquot need to be exposed or make conversation but they still enjoy a social experience and can work on schedulerdquoUmesh Saini who holds an MSc degree in Mathematics is now studying for the CSIRNET Entrance exams He hopes to become a college professor He has been running his channel which has 24500 subscribers since October 2020 and now is a master at 12hour streaming videos ldquoAll kinds of kidsmdashstudying for NEET engineering board examsmdashlog in I also take tuitions offer advice and tips on how to study more productivelyrdquo says the 24yearold son of a government college education officer His sister Vaishali who has a BSc degree also makes videos and takes online classes The two have figured out a way to make their videos ldquoprettierrdquo ldquoWe now have a good tripod and professional lighting We also add little touches sometimes like making chai or chatting with each other Itrsquos a combined experience we are offeringrdquoThe attraction of these videos is evident from a comment left on YouTube by a student ldquoJust knowing someone else is studying with me made these two hours more tolerable Whenever I have a lsquostudy buddyrsquo with me it really helps me keep focused on what Irsquom doingrdquoInterestingly the creators seem to be recreating the atmosphere of a tuition class where we caught up with friends Students prepping for tough exams like NEET face tremendous pressure and need emotional and social support This seems to provide them thatrdquo says psychologist Hvovi Bhagwagar ldquoSometimes one brain is not enough Itrsquos about bonding too Children today are lonely and this sort of video populates their day Even if they donrsquot know the person they are watching the camaraderie becomes beautifulrdquo