So what's the story?
Is it really B i
l a n d?
Chapter 2: The Transformation
During my gap year before starting my undergrad at National
University of Singapore (NUS), I joined Mastermind School as a
9th grade bio teacher, and it changed my life forever. I finally
found my secret talent- teaching bio. I wanted everyone to
understand that biology isn’t about memorizing at all, it’s
about simply understanding and putting puzzle pieces together
that make sense. It took a few months but the class completely
transformed. They all starting loving bio. Even the C grade
students started getting As and I couldn’t believe I would have
to stop the progress because the end was near.
Chapter 4: The Holidays
Even though
university started, I didn’t wanna stop. Every holiday, I’d
return and continue teaching in my big living room which then
become too small as the population of students started to
increase exponentially. I had to take multiple batches, which
meant more time teaching, sometimes from 8 am to 8 pm straight.
And I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT! They were the best holidays of
my life.
Chapter 1: The Epiphany
I always used to wonder how come all my classmates thought
biology was all about ‘memorization’ and ‘it was hard’ and
‘pointless’, and apparently so did all the parents. I wondered
why there aren’t university programs like Neuroscience or life
sciences in Bangladesh. And then I realized why: High school bio
teachers really ‘suck’.
Chapter 3: The Genesis
So, I decided not to stop. They wanted me to finish the
syllabus; so many things were left to explore. And they
suggested I should start teaching outside school. Not on the
streets, but at my home. I turned the living room into a giant
classroom. And formed my own little world, where I could safely
teach all day, every day. I will teach O level bio, human bio
and special extra classes for Biology Olympiad.
Chapter 5: The Triumph
Results rolled in, and thankfully most of them achieved A*s and
a few As. Everyone did remarkably. It was record breaking
success in biology results in the history of Mastermind. But
what I was most jubilant about was the fact that most of them
decided to take biology in A levels and even major in
biosciences at uni. They ACTUALLY stopped seeing bio as this
boring, undefeatable monster, and started seeing the
breathtakingly ethereal beauty as it was.
Who again?
So this is our small cast/crew! Cool people! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Debpriya Das
Founder/TeacherSchwarzman Scholar '21
Arnab Chakraborty
Teaching AssistantMcGill University '22
Maeesha Naomi
Teaching AssistantMount Holyoke College '24
Shuli Das
Operational ManagerAwesome as always!