We had a remarkable experience with the UTs. The results? Rather unremarkable. I’m sure a lot of us are wishing for a complete do-over of this mess of a year. Last week I was wondering: the UTs were bad. How can it get worse? My dear readers, a morsel of advice for you all: never EVER question the crud luck fest. The universe will crack its knuckles and get to work, because this is a challenge now, and it’s time to dump four lives worth of bad karma over your head. Welcome to the slippery slide of the academic year 2020-2021.
Oh right, the results. They were terrible.
When the menacing log of UTs was thrown at us, we dodged and rolled and made use of a whole plethora of ninja skills. Unfortunately, we still got hit right in the face. The situation is so cartoonish, I can’t help but throw jokes around.
This world is going through unprecedented times. Countries are churning in turmoil, and economies are collapsing. The light of the future is incredibly feeble and uninspiring, but we students are mourning over our tests. Of course, our results are a calamity in and of themselves. So, we should mourn.
As we do every week, because we care about the student body’s opinion (definitely not because this column writer can’t formulate one of her own), we asked you how you felt about your results. The students spoke as one: They were terrible. Small fires of outrage blossomed in the minds of all of us only to be put out by blankets of despondence. Are we resigned to our fate now? How can we change the lines of destiny?
Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
This is the command thrown to us. We have to adjust to the new situation and continue our lives as we normally do. We listened. We kept our heads up. We improvised, we adapted, but we could not overcome. That happens only if there is an understanding on both sides. Performing as we would is a tough bar to reach. It’s time we get a footstool. Don’t worry. That doesn’t lessen our worth or achievements. The situation calls for it. The students faltered. We need changes. We need longer exam times and a little compassion when faced with technical difficulties. We are trying our best. Now that the times are different, our best looks a bit different. We have to account for that, don’t we?
As you sow, so shall you reap
If you receive no rain, it’s time to weep
Everyone talks about this proverb. Especially when it comes to marks; we got as many marks as we worked for. However, have you heard of the second part? (Please don’t look it up. I made it) This only works if you nurture the seeds you plant. Students never stood a chance against this system. For once it wasn’t their fault. The odds were stacked against us. Seeds can’t grow if you don’t water them. For once, quench our thirst.
The teachers have been chiding us every time we complain about the tests. “They had to happen anyway. You should have seen it coming. You should have studied beforehand.” We would have studied if we had known. Kids don’t do well with shots out of the blue seas. Preparing for an exam does not entail simply revising your concepts and sneezing the information onto the answer sheet when the time comes. That is only part of the story. The other side is the mental battle: preparing yourself emotionally for the onslaught of testing week. It’s a war of tears, breakdowns, and constantly thinking you aren’t enough. Test anxiety isn’t a walk in the park.
Two weeks is not nearly enough to prepare for that battle. It’s rather short notice for an exam in regular times, but in the online school environment we inhabit nowadays, it is quite a shock. Along with dealing with the usual mental strain of exams, there’s a component of stress about technical difficulties. It is heartbreaking if you have to forsake your paper because of things that weren’t in your control. Even if you do sail through smoothly, somewhere in the back of your head, you are afraid of the storm.
School morale is at an all-time low. Seniors are fearing for their college decisions. These aren’t the marks we want to send out around the world. All we want is someone to look at our perspective.
We hope to see a more understanding version of testing next time. Because, no matter how much we want to stop it, there will be the next time. Hopefully, next time will be brighter, and these numbers are not the ones that define us.
Our entire lives are dictated by numbers. From the Aadhaar card number to our 10th board percentages, we are constantly evaluated by a string of numbers. What value do they have outside a human mind? They can mark your papers, but they can never mark your lives. Mark my words, you are more than a number. Definitely more than this number.
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