The jacarandas are in bloom, which means it’s time for exams. Many of our senior students are facing end-of-year scrutiny which will be an important moment of their educational journey. For some it’s a breeze, but for others it’s a very stressful time for them and perhaps their families.
I was one of those who quite enjoyed exam time with its promise of the summer break to come. The exams I did tended to mean hours of non-stop writing where the biggest problem was hand-cramp. Every now and then I’d have to pause to flex my right hand before plunging on till the last bell. Sometimes I’d finish a few minutes before the bell, and I could go back and read what I’d write hours before. Not too bad, I thought.
Well, I passed all my exams and did well enough in most of them. At the time, they seemed all-important, but at this stage of my life I can see that they were important but not all-important. Students can think that their whole life depends on their exam results, but it doesn’t. You are much more than your results. True, success in exams opens doors into the future – in all kinds of surprising ways in my own life. But success in exams doesn’t always mean success in life, and that’s the kind of success that matters.
What matters more is what you learn in the process of education that leads to exams and how the seeds of that learning bear fruit in your journey beyond the exams. Exams test your knowledge, your insight, your powers of expression. But they don’t test your ability to give yourself; and ultimately that’s what determines your success in life.
So I say to all the students facing exams: all the best in the test ahead, every success in the exams. If you do well, then congratulations – but remember this is only a beginning. And if your results aren’t what you hoped for, then don’t panic. There’s a long way to go and you’re more than your exam results. Whatever your results, I say to the students: remember, the real test is whether or not you’ve learnt through of your schooling to give yourself. And whatever happens, the jacarandas still bloom.