The Reality Of Examinations

Project: 4

Objective: How to say it!




Date:…. , Day:….., Time:….., Scene: Namitha studying in her room for …….. exam when suddenly the door opened and my papa asked: “Nimy, why are u studying so much? I know I know u have an exam tomorrow, but just think twice on this: exams are meant to test how much u already know but definitely not to test how mush you can fill in your head the night before!” phew! I so wish it was as easy as my father sounded!

Examinations for me are like roller-coaster rides. They are very high on tension levels and low on our “sleeping” levels. There are highs and lows of anxiety, curiosity, excitement and the whole event is nail-biting! But today, I want to look into the “fun” aspect of this roller-coaster ride. Yes! You heard me right- exams can be fun too! Trust me, it is a very good experience and we all must consider ourselves lucky enough to have such an experience every 6 months with semester exams!

We have all seen the people just a day before exams and also seen the reactions on their face- ‘Oh My God, economics exam tomorrow, 24 chapters, how am I going to study all this tonight!’ or some others saying ‘Eh, you leave, you are such a nerd, you need not study!’ or even worst- those people who don’t come to college a day or two before exams because they want to “prepare”! And guess what they would be doing at home?- messaging their classmates asking “how much have you finished studying, I haven’t even stared!” or they would be making plans for the coming holidays. But I assure you, they would be doing anything except studying and will later burn the mid-night oil.

Now, here comes the D-day- the day of the exam! The exam venue starts to become crowded by students, everyone is busy with their books, doing some last minute preparation, roaming around with scanners and guides. Then, there is the constant murmur in the air, ach one questioning the other one “studied?”, “prepared?” I always think- “ah! Come on! Who would come to the write an exam without studying and without being prepared? What a silly question that is!”

And now, the time has come when you have to enter the exam hall, all nervous and afraid, hoping that the paper would be easy and doing some last minute check for the hall ticket, the calculator, pen, pencil and other stationery which otherwise, is often ‘begged, borrowed or stolen’ in this college!

The moment you get the paper is actually when all the mischief starts. You must have guessed by now. Yes! I am talking about “Copying”! with all due respect to those who don’t commit this sweet crime, I believe that copying is no less than an adventure sport! I am always amazed by the different styles in which people copy! (Scratching the head while showing question numbers with the fingers, passing answer sheets or simply questioning the guy sitting next to you or writing chits or writing the answers under your sleeves or even the cell phones!) It is such an art to d such things without being caught by the demon- the invigilator! I have an incident to share here: 2 of my friends were copying in their math exam and must say that they did this act so well, so well that when the papers were corrected and distributed back to my friends, one of my friends paper had a comment by the teacher which read “same wrong answers as your partner’s!” J
There are very interesting ways of answering the exams. I received a mail the other day (show audience the chart paper containing interesting way to answer questions)….
This is what I call height of creativity but sadly there are no marks for creativity in exams!

After those 3 hours which seemed to be unending comes the sigh of relief on the face of tired students (for those who don’t take 3 hours it is a different story- probably you have the 12 o clock movie show which you can’t miss) but for others, their face has a temporary smile. They come out massaging their hands and comment “the paper was so lengthy, my hands are paining!” Remember, these are the ones who were saying “I haven’t studied anything” last night. Isn’t this ironical?

Well, the days pass and the long nights too. You take each exam like a game of counter strike- shooting each exam as if it were those enemies in the game and then, finally, the day of the last exam arrives where actually you are least bothered about the exam but more involved in planning the holidays which, again, will initially be enjoyed but later spent in curiosity, waiting to know the results!

But when you look back at the whole event, you have just spent 3 hours each on 6 papers which is just 18 hours- not even a day! And it is these 18 hours which were filled with so much of excitement, so many activities like controlling stress, mugging up answers, messaging friends, skipping chapters, copying and even purchasing the stationary-which you wouldn’t have purchased in case you had no exam!

Thinking of all these fun- filled activities I feel pity for those who feel exams are irritating. I pity those who wait for results and when they are not up to their parent’s expectations think of committing suicide! I always wonder ‘why don’t they understand that it was just an exam and not a ‘do or die’ situation. I was just a part of life for which one need not end their life. Exam is just an experience where you learn not only the 6 subjects but also other things which help later in life! It is time those people understand that exams are not everything. Infact, they should learn something from our college students!- being so chilled about exams!

Having said all this, I would like to remind all of you once again that:
Examination is not a botheration,
Examination is not a tension.
But,
Examination is just an extension….. of life!