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Skip the Rat race:
reimagine your future

A program designed for 9-12 grade students

our story

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My younger daughter was in 8th grade when she asked me one day, extremely worried and stressed, "What will my future be if I don't get good grades and don't do well in school?" I was alarmed about the high level of anxiety she was experiencing and spent time learning more about the issue. After several conversations with her, with other students, parents, school teachers and principals, as well as extensive research, it became apparent to me that students and parents face unbearable stress and anxiety. Academic pressure of maintaining GPA, standardized tests, college admissions and worries about career success is one of the main reason for this stress. Students and their parents spend a lot of time and effort on mastering the knowledge of subjects. Yet, when students are stressed, their amygdala is triggered in response to the stress and disables their pre-frontal cortex - the portion of brain responsible for learning. So all the emphasis on curriculum subjects is futile if they are stressed.

I wondered, how could I apply my experience in coaching engineering professionals to create a program that would help high school students? What could I do to help them navigate these challenges, stress and anxiety with greater success?

Thus "Skip The Rat Race: Reimagine Your Future"was born. This course is designed to help students become more effective and efficient, while reducing mental stress and anxiety. This program has been continuously improved to provide transformational impact for students. We have conducted this program for multiple schools over the past 4 years including International Academy which is ranked #1 amongst high schools in Michigan and is ranked #8 in the entire USA.

research about stress and anxiety amongst school students

NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau)

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), over 12,500 students died by suicide in India in 2022 due to academic stress and failure in exams

UNICEF "state of the world's children

One in seven young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in India experiences poor mental health

Us news, nov 2022

2019 Pew Research Center report identified academics as the leading source of pressure teens face.

cdc, Us centers for disease control

Forty-two percent of high school students in 2021 reported feeling so sad or hopeless for at least two consecutive weeks in the previous year that they stopped engaging in their usual activities, up from 26 percent in 2009. Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts, and actual suicides among young people have also risen in that period

unleash the power of self-awareness

Dan Goleman on EQ

How can you solve this difficult challenge? Self-awareness is key. By understanding your personality, strengths, and weaknesses, you can minimize stress and anxiety while enhancing your academic performance and personal life.

According to an article published in the June 2018 issue of Harvard Business Review, self-awareness is the most important skill to be successful in the 21st century. Self-awareness involves:

1. Knowing your own personality, behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, fears, tendencies and priorities. This awareness will enable higher individual performance: High GPA, exceptional score in SAT/ACT, outstanding college applications and essays.

2. Being aware of others’ personality and behavioral style.

3. Using this knowledge about self and others to move from judgment to curiosity.

details of our program

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A video about the program

We focus on increasing self awareness, finding meaning and a heightened sense of purpose. This will drive behavior that will make you more productive in studies and exams - accomplish more in same or less time. This course will enable you to make better professional connections with fellow students, teachers, as well as personal connections (friends, parents, siblings and others). This will in turn reduce stress and anxiety and improve your performance as a student.

Reduced toxic conflict on project teams and in personal interactions. Reduced friction during interactions with others will lead to increased efficiency and effectiveness in academic performance as well as extracurricular activities such as clubs, volunteering and sports.
Greater meaningful interactions and friendships which provide an outlet instead of being alone, minimizing anxiety and stress.
Self awareness about behavioral traits that hold you back in studies, exams, career choices, projects and more. Once you unlock the key to awareness, there is no going back!

Course Highlights

Personalized Insights to enhance self-awareness
- You take an online assessment that reveals your unique traits. You'll receive a tailored 22-page report
- Lifelong access to an online platform with resources to reinforce self-awareness, helping you maintain these skills over time.
7 sessions of 1.5 hour duration each spread over 7 weeks with practical individualized tips based on your report
- How to boost productivity and excel in studies and exams
- Tips and techniques to improve time management, reduce procrastination while minimizing stress and anxiety
- Collaboration and inter-personal skills: Learn how to work harmoniously with others who may have different personality than you - this will help reduce conflict.
- Determine which career choices best align with your personality
- College applications - Leverage insights from your report to ace essays for college applications and interviews
The benefits of this course extend beyond high school - succeeding in top-tier college, exploring careers, and even entrepreneurship

join us for a free intro session

Join us for a 1.5 hour FREE introductory session to learn about this program. Discover how self-awareness and effective communication can transform your high school experience, reduce stress, and prepare you for future success. Reimagine your future with confidence and clarity.

Learn More

In this 1.5 hr webinar we will cover

Tips for managing stress and ensuring success

You will receive actionable tips that you can start using immediately

Overview of the 7 week program

We will discuss what topics will be covered in the 7 week program, ongoing support etc

Q&A

Answers students and parents questions about school, college and career success

Meet the Team

Our team has a combined 50 years of experience in education and coaching

Atul Kalia, CEO

Atul is a consultant and a career coach.

He is passionate about guiding students and professionals to achieve academic and career success, while minimizing undue stress and anxiety.

He has worked with, as well as coached all levels of professionals, ranging from CEO to managers to high school students. During his workshops and coaching sessions with experienced working professionals and managers over the past 10 years, Atul realized that conducting such sessions on self-awareness can be even more impactful if conducted at a younger age (college and school students). Earlier introduction allows students to avoid bad habits from forming and reap much larger rewards later in their career.

Prior to working as a coach, Atul worked as the Director of Engineering for an Automotive company. He has 20+ years of corporate experience. His list of current and past clients includes over 150 global organizations - Fortune 50 companies such as Ford Motor Company, Comcast, Xerox as well as US Government organizations - e.g. The US Army Corps of Engineers.

Atul holds an MBA from Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, MS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Maryland College Park and BSME from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.

Dr Aarti Mishra, Program Director

Dr Mishra is a Public Relations and Mass Communications professional with a passion for education. She has a long and successful track record in coaching and mentors doctors, dentists, medical students as well as other students at college and school level.

She has conducted Skip The Rat Race Program for the past 4 years for many school and college students and has been a part of the program right from its inception. Her authenticity, natural ability to motivate others, listen deeply and show empathy have enabled success for the students that have attended her sessions.

As a PR consultant she has coached and mentored physicians and dentists all over India, enabling top line growth for their healthcare organizations. Dr Mishra has 15+ years of successful track record in PR, Social Media and Digital Marketing, Driving profitability with initiatives focused on creating employee engagement and high performance organizations.

She holds a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from GNDU and Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communications from Punjab University.

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Ashish Sharma, Program Director

Ashish is an energetic and collaborative entrepreneur, IT professional and educator focused on quick actions, maintaining stability and providing support with empathy.

He has taught computer courses in schools since 1998. Ashish loves to provide support whenever possible to ensure a great learning environment. As an educator, he feels it's his duty to give back to society by coaching students how to have high moral values, strong outlook towards life and a zest to contribute to society while enabling their own individual success. He has embraced CBSE emphasis on IT subject in a unique way, encompassing both technical as well life skill sections including, communication skills and self management. Ashish shares the power of EQ with kids to enhance life skills along with the need for IQ.

He has been a part of Skip The Rat Race program right from its inception and has coached students about how to improve their studies, design need based timetable and overcome their limitations.

Ashish has more than 20 years experience, expertise in providing technical support for configuration, and installation of computer hardware, and software. He has vast experience in handling networking projects related to IT labs and in-campus wired and wireless network installations, network configuration, testing , implementation and maintenance.

Ashish holds B.com degree from Panjab University, PGDCA from Kurukshetra University, and M Sc IT from MDU

testimonials

“The enrichment and my knowledge about the DiSC profile have definitely helped me a lot. I applied to an international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Government. In my application, I wrote about how my DISC style will help me to take everyone's opinion into

consideration, collaborate, and give constructive criticism. I received the email that I was accepted into the program!”

Anna F, International Academy, Michigan, USA

additional research about stress and anxiety amongst school students

India

NCERT survey about mental health: Conducted in 28 states & 8 UT’s and over 200,000 students from 8-12 grade. Over 80% of the students said they were stressed about exams, studies and results

International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research: Publication about stress and anxiety in face of academic pressures. 95% of students experience significant study-related stress, driven by their aspirations for a successful career

Global

WHO - Mental Health of Adolescents: Globally, one in seven 10-19-year-olds experiences a mental disorder

Guardian article

NIH (National Institutes of Health): Stress and Anxiety among High School Adolescents

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention): Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health.

Among US high school students in 2023, 40% reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year

Skip the Rat race: reimagine your future