“God made man, man-made exams, exams made man mad!” Yes, thanks to the man, Henry Schell Hagert who invented exams. Exams find their source in ancient China but spread around the world as a yardstick to measure one's knowledge, performance, and skill set.
Does an exam define success? Is Success measurable? One can be born abundant, or one may work to reach abundance in terms of monetary and material possession. Career and growth are not constant, varying from one profession to another, yet exams drive us as a measuring scale.
Knowledge and exams are definitely not the two faces of a coin. In fact they are not even proportional to each other. The few wiser people I have met in my life primarily are my parents who have not had formal education. Extremely qualified people with big positions may not have the understanding of just being a human.
In the true sense, I believe challenges of life at every stage become an exam. We have heard people committing suicide due to a failure or loss of hope after having made career's from IIMs or IITs. Exams have become a yardstick to decide privileges and prestige one earns, unfortunately. Students at their level are pushed into competition to bag ranks and gold medals.
A major reason for distress and anxiety for students have been Exams. Careers, jobs or settled life have been the most crucial areas of concern and priority. Upskilling oneself, choosing the right careers and employment, multiple sources of income, planning health, insurance, and savings can save one from possible overwhelming reactions which we still call it “Stress”.
Knowing what one wants in life, understanding how important it is to plan time and effort, how much to commit oneself towards the chosen responsibility and finally setting the end result as per one's performance if explained to students and they understand it consciously, exams will never be a burden but a timely check.
Consistency is the key to growth, planning activities, learning rather than absorbing information, making self-reference notes, practicing and re-doing it with focus; above all, keeping one's mind in the most curated state with a balanced body, mind and soul is the very essence of Exams. Meditating, staying positive, being hydrated, sleeping enough, talking less, staying happy and believing in oneself without worrying about the result will help deliver one's best performance. Let the alarm become the bells for flying colors. All the best!
Illustrated By Hema N
Assistant Professor
RV PU College, Bangalore