7 Essential Things To Know, Dear Child, Before You Sit For Those Board Exams…

Posted: February 21, 2020

Board exams and results are not the most important thing in life, though it doesn’t feel like that at the moment. How do you stay calm at such times?

I asked myself several times if I should pen this to you, and finally I decided I should. Hope you spare a moment to read…

Your ‘score’ doesn’t define you

Ten years down the line, no one is going to remember your ‘score’ from the board exams. It is important, I won’t tell you otherwise. But, those numbers are not going to ‘irrefutably’ determine the course of who you finally evolve into.

There is place for everyone

Remember, it is diversity that makes the Earth beautiful. We need the grass as much as we need the tall oaks. Else, Earth and its sentient beings would’ve been assembly line products, not part of an amazing evolutionary process! Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Give it your best and leave it at that

A great maxim to live by. You may have parents who understand that or you may have parents who pressurize, I understand. But ultimately, it is you who has been given the responsibility and the honour of taking care of ‘You’ – this unique combination of strengths and weaknesses.

Don’t let others distress you

Do not allow scathing remarks by the significant adults in your life undermine you. Of course, if you are not giving it your best for your board exams, not using your strengths, then you definitely need some speaking to! But, if you are, then never mind the rest.

Ok to be overwhelmed by board exams

It is perfectly alright to feel overwhelmed at times. The best among us experiences it too. For, who ever promised life will be a boring straight line?

Ok to be sad, too

It is perfectly okay to feel sad at times. But, deliberately counter it with a beautiful moment or memory. It can be simple, just go and hug your equally tense parent/ significant adult (even if they are grouchy), or look up at the skies, or go out and treat yourself to an ice cream, or just close your eyes and breathe deep, pat yourself and whisper, ‘I’m there for you, no worries’… just do something to let the ‘moment’ pass, be it anything!

Ask for help

And, if you can’t beat those blues by yourself, reach out to someone who will listen. If you need help, do not hesitate, ask! Tell your significant adult that your ‘sadness’ threatens to overwhelm and you need help. When faced with bare facts, people do help. I repeat, do not hesitate.

You might be the straight ‘A+’ scorer or you might score other grades, but whatever it is, decide that you will be there for all your peers. Decide that apart from your significant adults and the higher education forms you fill, no one ‘needs’ to hear your percentile. If they don’t know, they can’t compare. Remember, in life very few people question because they really care. Plus, do you know what your parent/your head teacher scored in 1961; who scored more and who scored less? Does it matter now?

Life gives you choices and chances, don’t be convinced otherwise. Remember, it is perseverance that paid off in the ‘Hare & Tortoise’ race.

All the very best to you, my dear.

First published here.

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