Anxiety and stress related to Examination, in general, are taking a toll on our students’ lives. Hence, let us remember, before we excel in any Exam, we have to be good human beings. However, we cannot negate the importance of Exams as our entire educational system is based on the same. Manav Rachna International Schools never underestimate the importance of Examinations but give equal importance to their students’ emotional and mental quotient. Counseling of our students is done by mentors and expert Counselors. Exam tips are shared with students so that Exam Fever’s agony is minimized! Such efforts make our students shine in the path of life and be a winner – Editor
FROM THE AUTHOR’S DESK
A Short story of Positive Guidance and Compassion
(A Crisp Drama Written to Bring out the Essence of Exam turmoil)
In the era of meritocracy, the practice of testing the qualities of a student based on an examination has gained prevalence and has established itself as the ‘general modus Operandi’. Accompanying this is the copious amounts of stress and pressure that these exams have imposed on the students. The following is a conversation understanding the various dimensions of ‘exam stress.’
Characters:
- Preeti –Mentor
- Mohit –Mentor
- Arav –Mentee
- Rudrakshi –Mentee
Mr. Mohit- “Good morning Preeti Ma’am, So all set for the Pre-Boards Exams beginning tomorrow? How do you think your students will perform?”
Ms.Preeti- “Mr.Mohit, thanks for asking. I’m confident of my students, I’m sure that they will do wonders.”
Mr.Mohit- “Ma’am, out of all your students, who do you, think would perform the best?”
Ms. Preeti- “It’s definitely Arav who has been consistently scoring the highest in the revision tests and scoring almost full marks in fact. I am expecting him to secure at least 99% in the Pre-Board Exams. I have high expectations from him.
Mr.Mohit- “Yes that’s true. He has been doing well in my subject too, consistently been working hard for the past 2 years and is very calm with quite sharp mind. He deserves high marks and he will get them”
Arav walks into the room.
Mr.Mohit- “Oh hey Arav, we were just talking about you. We all have very high expectations from you!”
Arav- “Thank you Mohit Sir, that’s good but I don’t know… I am just nervous about the Pre-Boards.”
Ms. Preeti- “Why Arav? You are very well prepared and you will do great. You are one of the best students of this country. You’ll do great, just be calm.”
Arav- “Thanks Preeti Ma’am, I am just feeling nervous. Just wondering, if in the current affairs section, the questions are asked about the topics that I haven’t prepared, I am sorry to say, I won’t be able to perform well. What if questions from trigonometry are asked, I think so, I am quite weak in that?”
Ms. Preeti- “Don’t worry Arav. Everything will turn out well. Be confident of your preparations. Given your skills you will do well, just be calm.”
Arav keeps his books in his desk and leaves the room.
Ms. Preeti- “Hope that everything goes well.” (Looking at Mr. Mohit)
Mr.Mohit- “Sure it will be Preeti ma’am. Do not worry. All the best!”
On his way to the Principal’s room, Mohit Sir meets another student Rudrakshi, who is also in grade 12.
Mr.Mohit- “Hey Rudrakshi. How are you doing? All set for the exam?”
Rudrakshi- “Hey Sir! All good. Yes, I am quite confident about tomorrow’s exam.”
Mr.Mohit- “That’s great, how have you been scoring in the revision tests recently?”
Rudrakshi- “It’s around 70% but I’m sure I’ll do much better tomorrow. I’m not focusing on the result; I just want to give my best tomorrow.”
Mr.Mohit- “That’s great, wish you the very best for tomorrow.”
SCENE- POST-RESULT (Pre Board Exam)
Mr.Mohit- “How did the result go Preeti Ma’am? Did Arav score full marks in all the subjects?”
Ms. Preeti- “The results are fine but exam stress among the students has caused a plummet in the marks. Do you know who scored the highest marks?”
Mr.Mohit- “Was it Arav?”
Ms. Preeti- “No, It was Rudrakshi!”
Mr.Mohit- “What! How did Arav fare? And how did Rudrakshi do better than Arav? Her scores were nowhere near to what Arav was scoring in the revision tests!”
Ms. Preeti- “Rudrakshi got 97% while Arav just scored 64%.”
Mr.Mohit-“ Oh, how did this happen?”
Ms. Preeti- “Arav panicked during the exam; his judgement was clouded due to mis-founded fear, the phobia of exam and anxiety about his performance. Meanwhile, Rudrakshi focused on the exam itself. She did not fear the outcome and just did her best. This is what made the difference between them. Rudrakshi focused on the present and did what she was supposed to while Arav focused on the future and got misled by his fear. This is what one shouldn’t do while preparing and taking exams. Although preparation and hard work matter, the key still lies in not being anxious during and night before the exam. To overcome exam anxiety, one can revise the subjects and calm oneself. One should talk to friends also. Talking to friends helps in taking the exam and relieves stress.”
In the Final Exam, Arav and other students followed the tips given by Preeti Ma’am and all did great. Every student passed with flying colours and Arav topped the school with 98%. However, being a good human is more important than scoring high percentage! But since marks are the criteria on which the competitions are till date more or less based, hence we are talking here in terms of percentage. Manav Rachna International Schools always believe in holistic growth of students.
Moreover, the lessons a teacher teaches her/his students are very important in a student’s life and they should inculcate all the habits of being a responsible citizen of this nation. Exam stress can squander years of hard work. We should understand this and take steps to ensure that we don’t come under such undue pressure.
Author: Ms.Preeti Taneja, PGT Computer Science, MRIS Charmwood
