"I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs, but how high he bounces when he hits the bottom."
- GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON, WW2 COMMANDER IN THE US ARMY

Now, since the Board exams are over finally, so here’s my take on it :-
Basically, these exams form one of the crucial step in the ladder of the academic journey in a student’s life which tests the intellectual ability. These too can be visualised as a sort of an All India Race of Academic excellence. All across the nation, there is a lot hype about it as it forms the foundation in one’s career, however the fear doesn’t correlate with the difficulty level of the exam.

Eventually as it’s time seems to be approaching, an aura of pressure is generated not only for the child but also for the parents too, despite of the preparations. Moreover, a lot of hard work is put into the preparations for the exams, which requires sheer dedication and motivation by the child assisted by a lot of people behind the scene .By keeping the aim in mind and working hard every day all over the academic session and reaching closer and closer to the target. This is too accompanied by a protective atmosphere which is created in the home by the family members facilitating the preparation.In midst of this scene, the role played by the relatives is humorous yet annoying who turn into keen observers of the child’s performance and are too constantly nagging by the way of comparison.

Started the session of class X beneath the dense clouds of COVID-19’s 2nd wave, so the challenge posed by the online classes always prevailed. Gradually, the online mode too became a habit. Soon after, the CBSE decided to bifurcate the whole syllabus into terms. However, at the end, it appeared to favour the students’ way (and resulted into a blessing in disguise) which in initial stages once appeared as a huge mountain to conquer. Moving on, one of the major problem that I faced that gradually deepened as a result of the schools being shut was the lack of constant practice which was facilitated by the tests, and written practice despite of the ones being done through online mode. (Now, some may not agree on the level of honesty amongst students during offline school test, but still the output of the students could still be analysed at some extent but this wasn’t the case in online mode.)

So, By all this ,the fear of offline exams begun to upsurge within me in the initial stages. Luckily, I was able to overcome this problem by facing the fear again and again until it became my habit. The school very judiciously conducted a significant no. of exams that was very helpful in the preparation and along with that exams eventually became a part of my routine. So, a Big takeaway from exams was that “If you want to counter your fear, then face it again and again until it becomes your habit.

So, coming back to the main talk, in order to pass the board exams in flying colours (or for that matter any exam) intense preparation becomes the crucial intermediate to success. Being aware of the fact that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity therefore our preparation leading to it should be intense, ultimate and promising and then only it is possible to bear the sweet fruits in form of our result.

Moreover, coming on to the key factor which influences the exams is the Pressure . Furthermore, there are expectations to score at par to the presumptions, self doubts in one’s own preparations, comparison between 2 students on various aspects. All in all there are various parameters set already maybe by the parents or students itself in prior to the exams ,hence fulfilling ‘these set of presumed load’ becomes a task of sheer confidence to be performed under pressure. Inspite of all this, a student should not go with the flow and become tensed and low in confidence rather should take it up as a challenge and should fight back and become even stronger than before showing the virtue of Resilience. (This definitely reminds me again of the one of the top-notch quote mentioned in the beginning.) As Coal changes to Diamond under pressure in the same manner a man can achieve great heights in his life if in case the pressure is handled wisely in the crunch situations of life in an optimistic manner.

Linking to the pressure situation, there’s yet another factor playing the key role which is the Confidence and trust in one’s own preparations before and during answering the exams.
As the feeling of emptiness of knowledge in spite of a lot of hardworking preparations and fear is very common among the students but at this juncture one who’s able to muster up courage and keep trust in one’s own preparations is the one to emerge out in flying colours.

Additionally, on seeing the other side of the story that at the end of the day it isn’t about how much marks does one score rather it is about whether you’ve given your 100% in all those days of preparations and reflecting the same in your actions i.e. the exams.If yes, then in turn this feeling would grant true solace and satisfaction and 0% regret of the actions committed in the past. As it is our actions and hardwork committed in the present which shapes the tale of our destiny in the future. Moreover, realising that all the challenges faced by the students aren’t to demotivate or dis-strengthen their courage and confidence rather it’s purpose is to strengthen their character that they are able to face the tough situations in their upcoming life and become the leading human beings of their era.

Lastly, when the input of giving the exams has been done so worrying about the output i.e.the result isn’t fruitful. As I believe in the testimony of “Do your best, and leave the rest unto the God” helps me to calm my nerves. Well, one challenge (class X) has just passed while the other (class XI) has too started showing it’s colours.While they’re are yet another sets of obstacles that needs to be faced and conquered, our hopes ,beliefs and courage is held high ,so definitely the future seems to promising and adventuresome.