i hate exams! (hands up, those who feel the same way)
i remember the very 1st test result result i received when i was in primary one. it was a maths test & i got 47 marks out of 50. unfortunately, i didn't realise that it just the beginning of what i still perceive to be a long, difficult & twisty journey towards academic achievement.
my parents have always encouraged me to study hard, sometimes with a stern voice & occasionally with a few timely & forceful raps of the ruler on the hand. i recall with trepidation how my mother would make me remember how many eyes, nose, ears & the number of other body parts a human has (was she clairvoyant??) & my father would make sure i knew the times-table & "simpulan bahasa" till i could recite them in my sleep. painful as it was, something must have worked because i did OK (just ok only la!) at school in the years to come. (was it out of fear, sometimes i still wonder, or had i been pre-conditioned from young??)
i counted the number of years between that 1st maths test & the last exam i sat in adult life. would you believe a massive 29 years, attending classes & tutorials & pouring over books & references - i actually had been studying for more than half of my life. but no matter, i figure at any time of the year, there would be students swotting over their books in preparation for an exam or other. i don't envy them 1 bit but i do emphatise with them. they, as i have years before, put everything else in their lives on hold in an attempt to cross a hurdle that will decide if they go to a better class, enter boarding school/varsity, get that scholarship or attain a 1st or 2nd upper class honours.
& because exams will always be an inevitable part of this endeavour we call the rat race, & because the cliche "if you can't beat them, join them!" sometimes holds true, we should just study hard & get them over with. what comes after that is out of our control, but the results will be more readily acceptable if we had put in an honest effort.
so in the coming merry month of may, i know a bunch of medics won't share that sentiment as they will be sitting for their Part 1 M.Med. i especially would like to wish sbanboy (read here & here) all the very best & i'm happy to note that he is relying on God's strength & wisdom.
didn't the Wise Man admonish,"trust the Lord with all your heart, & lean not on your own understanding"? prov 3:5
16 comments:
all the best to all who are going to exams!
Something tells me you do well in all you do :)
Just wanted to say hi!
I hate exams. Period.
I still remember, prov 3:5 got me through my form 3 exams with flying colours. =)
bernard,
i think the guys are going to appreciate that they are being remembered.
which reminds me - belated birthday greetings! (got that from your recent post)
beng,
hi, again!
i have failed in other endeavours before. we would do well to heed the words of composer John Powell - the only REAL mistake is the one from which we learn NOTHING.
anastasia,
would you like to helm the Exam Haters' Club? (i retired long time ago)
the same premise will get you thru A-levels with equal purpose.
Tests are just a normal stage we all have to go through. Hey even God tests us through our life time! Are you gonna blame Him for that? Hahaha!
I rather take tests than to work in the boring working world now!
hey nastasshea,
thks for your comment. it got me thinking - does that mean that people (like me) who hate tests are abnormal??
i should have met you - & let you do the tests for me.
I survived primary and sec school without any pressure from my parents. My parents don't check on my work, neither would they make me study. It's funny how my mum used to push my eldest sis so much but she did nothing to me. I always still ask her why. She thinks I am responsible of my own things. I think it's good because I never needed the parental pressure. They don't even have to know how much I score in my exams.. teehehe
lynxx,
i think this pressure is related to being the 1st-born - you know, having to set a good example to the younger ones. i have not seen or heard of this pressure on the youngest sibling or the single child.
my kid brother was nowhere as responsible as you described, & yet he too was not pushed. & the irony is that he turned out pretty well.
so i now wonder, is the pressure necessary in the 1st place? would i be where i am today, had my parents just let me be?
thanks bro ...... intensive "goreng" in progress
Appreciate the prayer and support
After exams time to feast :)
sbanboy,
you're welcomed!
looking forward to the "makan"!
The present exam system is sresssing students
There will be more projects and folio type of school-based assessments in future, and the teachers will be the one to be stressed out....it is no joke "chasing" after the weaker students to hand in their folios, I tell you
just me,
you know the system is not working when the education minister keeps changing policies - wawasan schools, smart schools, cluster schools - while the basic ills lie in the fabric of the system eg. poorly trained teachers, lax discipline amongst students (& teachers), numerous unnecessary meetings.
only the concerned teachers & conscientious students feel the stress - the others are just not bothered.
after all have being said, you still have to study and take the exam anyway. Will it help if I tell you I hate exams too :)
alex,
thanks for your comment.
i'm beginning to think that exams are like income tax & death - there's just no escaping them.
ha, thanks for your support. i've always known that i am not alone on this issue.
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