Examinations? Bah!

Right. My results appear before my eyes..and it's not as bad as it was meant to be. Because I didn't exactly do overly-badly for any of the subjects. Honestly, I had prepared myself for the worst and I can assure you that I would not have blinked had I failed every paper I sat for. But thankfully that was not to be! I did credibly ok in all three subjects (Mathematics, Physics, Economics) I undertook for my A levels and though it was a relief, it also served as a timely reminder that taking your studies lightly especially at this stage of your life will result in severe consequences. I had indeed felt a few months back that I would not have been able to achieve the sort of success that many of my peers had strived for this final exam. What was more telling about that prediction was that I could foresee it half a year before the actual exam took place. That tells you a lot about how intensive my course was that you could completely lose track in a matter of weeks if you had tried to slack. It is rather fortunate that I picked myself up in those few months prior to my exams and put in a little bit more effort in my work. By then it was damage limitation, nevertheless, I persevered (doing a bit more homework than I've ever been used to). I gave up a bit on the lessons that were being taught in class though. It brought me close to nowhere and I was better off doing work on my own hence I skipped many classes (I do not encourage that). Hah.

Now that the cat is finally out of the hat, I feel for those who missed out on what they set out to achieve. More sorry than I feel for myself, that is (I have missed out too much to bother anymore). What I didn't like though, was when they started to weep over it.

I didn't attempt to point this out to a few of my friends who did, it rubs unnecessary salt and pepper into the wound. What's more I didn't think it would be any consolation to their gloomy day. Maybe they will think that it's because I'm not as ambitious as they are or that doing well wouldn't mean as much to me. But that is not my point to prove. In fact, who am I to tell them it isn't worth their tears? You have no idea how it feels to put in so much effort and yet miss out on a place in a university because my results say I'm not good enough, so they say. I don't actually blame them anyway, But to be fair to them, I would prefer to keep the most of my personal opinion to myself (so as not to trigger the sensitivities of this topic). Yet my view is this:
That the thing which really disgusts me is the ease of which innocent people are manipulated to feel such pain, anxiety, and stress by these testing methods invented to define "winners" and "losers" by some fucking Einsteins with no regard for any form of moral obligation. These are the very same people representing a society where every teenager (or maybe older people) are under such intense pressure to succeed and fear to fail, because such shortcomings are not tolerated. Not that I see no benefit in it. In fact I agree with the notion that examinations are probably the most effective way to gauge your grasp of a matter. Yet we are more often than not crippled by the weight of expectation rather than educated through our mistakes - because this system of elimination rarely provides the second chances needed in the learning cycle of an ideal human being (since unfulfilment of a certain grade hinders you from entering a university of choice). Now you tell me why we should feel discouraged and broken down by this mercenary of an education system. Are we to become more educated and learned people by submitting to it? Unfortunately, that is the sad story of today. We live in a society whereby we are judged by how high a mark we are able to obtain in an exam and that plays a role in our non-tolerance of failing and learning from our mistakes.
So I shall say this to those who have fallen: to get up and not be at the mercy of this shite of an education system which diminishes book smart people from the rest. Every teardrop shed strengthens the dire straits of the current situation and we need to put a stop to it. Honestly. You should notice that the only reason you cry over poor results is the fact that it may stop you from progressing because you are deemed unfit and NOT because you flopped. It is time to forgive yourself and not let the Man get you down (engaging phrase from The School of Rock). And to those supposedly successful people who represent the society and pass lame judgement on whether people are good or not good enough? For fuck's sake, give encouragement and second chances to the fellow human beings you have hurt and scorned as a result of all your fucking perceptions of who's smart and who's not. Because it could be someday where you will fall flat on your face and then you will see how not-so-perfect you are then realise you are just human like everyone else. Absolute discrimination.

(Do forgive me for some violent emotion towards the end of this post because as you can see I am just fucking pissed with the society which has placed such burden on some of those known to me, where these people have more character and humility than some of society's so-called cream and yet are shunned for perceived failure)