WE’VE ALL SEEN INTERNET POSTS FROM CELEBRITIES TELLING US ABOUT HOW THEY GOT A STRING OF F’S IN THEIR EXAMS AND STILL MADE IT BIG.
And the news reports every year on the increasing numbers of
A grades, decrying the ‘grade inflation’ and how it merely reflects easier
exams and not harder work.
In the heat of results day, it is easy to forget what our
exam results really mean. Despite how it may seem, results days like these are
not an opportunity to weed out the smart ones from the less able ones because
ultimately none of us is good at everything nor do we all learn in the same way
or are interested in the same things.
SO NOT DOING WELL ON RESULTS DAY DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT YOU ARE DESTINED TO BE A FAILURE OR ARE NOT ABLE. WELL THEN, WHAT DOES RESULTS DAY MEAN AND HOW DO YOUR EXAM RESULTS AFFECT YOUR LIFE?
EXAM
The first myth to bust is the one that says that the results of your exams will affect the rest of your life – they won’t. Your exam results, whether it is at your primary level, secondary level or your university degree classification will not affect your whole life but they will affect the next stage in your life. Your results at every stage determine what you can or can’t do or maybe where you can do it at the next stage. For example, your KSCE or GCSE results might affect what A-Levels you can do and your A-level results might affect what or where you can study at university.
Because these results typically affect the next three to four years of your life it doesn’t mean that you will be a failure for life if you don’t do well, nor do they promise an eternal success if you do. This does not mean you shouldn’t try to do well because the better you do at every stage the more options will be available to you in the next stage.
RESULTS
Because these exam results primarily affect the next three
to four years of your life, it means that their shelf life is very small so they won’t be remembered for long. Your KSCE or GCSEs will not matter much after three years once you’ve started University and by the time you graduate your A levels won’t either.
The exception is a few very competitive degrees like
Medicine or lucrative graduate schemes. The good thing about this is also that
every stage is a new clean slate, an opportunity to try again, so even if you
did not do well at your KSCE or GCSEs then A levels are a new playing field.
MAKES YOURSELF PROUD
Just because your exam results might not be remembered long
by others does not mean that they don’t mean anything to anyone because they
will always mean something to you. Though your exam certificates may end up
lost in your attic one day, you will remember the hours you slaved away over
maths, and only you will remember the grade you got in KSCE or GCSE French.
When the hype of results day is over and a decade has passed, your exam results will only mean something to you so take this as an opportunity to make yourself proud.
NONE OF THIS IS TO SAY THAT RESULTS DAY DOES NOT
MATTER BECAUSE IT DOES BUT JUST THAT IT DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR WHOLE LIFE. THE
HABITS AND WORK ETHIC YOU LEARN FROM WORKING TOWARDS OBTAINING GOOD GRADES IS
SOMETHING THAT YOU WILL TAKE WITH YOU THROUGHOUT LIFE AS WILL BE THE LITTLE
NUGGETS OF KNOWLEDGE YOU PICK UP HERE AND THERE FROM YOUR SYLLABUS.
You might not ever remember the events of world war two as well as you do now but, hopefully, the love of learning and the ability to learn outside of school will be habits you utilize through life.