While most are glad that we’re moving from one covid year to hopefully one with less of it, this time of the year is not quite fun for board students. While they are glad that the months are going by fast and the exams will be done soon, they are also anxious about the fact that the months are going by fast and soon they will have to give their second boards. It is quite ironic.
Last year teachers kept drilling into the brains of these students that this is the board year and all they have to do now is study (their exact words were “boards hai padh lo, last year ke tarah cancel nahi hoga”). These words had no effect in March when the session had just begun, but now April brings the feeling of dread that is finally sinking in. The wretched board exams which affect your entire future, or so they say, are finally approaching. Now when you talk about that Goa trip you have planned with all your best friends, you are hit with the fact that you actually have to give your boards before you get on that flight.
The looming threat of boards carries a feeling of anxiety like no other. For 10th graders, it is the first time they are being faced with such an obstacle. And for the seniors of the school, these are the exams which will pave the way to their future. CBSE schools all over India state that these upcoming exams are of utmost importance for everything you wish to achieve and of course, for all the aunties and uncles calling to ask about your percentage (you better score more than that neighbour Sharma Ji’s son).
For all the 10th and 12th graders, I see the amount of pressure you are under, anyone would think that it is high time you took a breather. You are so stressed with all these obligations to score well, for both you and your parents, to meet the expectations of your teachers, and as bad as it sounds, to not fall behind your friends. You think you’re coping well but is it really coping if you’re awake at 2 A.M., hyperactive because of all the coffee you drank and ready to cry because you know page 137 has that equation you hate?
Convincing yourself that you can’t feel the pressure because you work better under pressure is not as much of a flex as you think it is.
Take a step back and regroup.
You’re worried about this particular set of exams because you’ve been told for years to worry about them. But at the end of day they are just another set of exams. All you have to do is study for them and afterall, you’re a student and studying is all you have been doing since you entered primary grade (though learning abcd was easier).
So what if you don’t get those marks?
You might be disappointed, but in the bigger picture, does it really matter?
You’ll learn from it, overcome it and continue to work hard. It is simply a thorn in the road. Everyone around you has faith in you because they believe you are capable of great things. These exams are just the stepping stones. You know yourself better, and thus you should be the one with the faith that you absolutely will annihilate these exams.
The months are going by fast and the second boards are approaching. But they too, will pass and soon you will find yourself on that plane to Goa (after convincing your parents to actually let you go, of course)
Good luck for doomsday – I mean for your boards!
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