By Unnati Singh:
They tell us to not get too stressed, to study hard and then all will be well. But really? 12th standard is not a piece of cake and perhaps will never be. I’m not saying the studies are exceptionally hard, but the constant poking noses of my relatives, neighbors and sometimes peers is enough to set me over the edge. The course is tough, but not unmanageable. The problem, in the situation as one might say, is expectations. I’m a science student, and sadly that’s the only perspective I can share with you but it must be more or less the same for all streams.
My mathematics teacher tells me to study maths for four hours everyday. My coaching center gives me to learn two modules generally every class (roughly 110 pages) in a span of 2-3 days. On top of that we have school tests whose course does not coincide with our tuition course, and its like I’m studying for two twelfth standards at the same time. As if one was not enough?
There are many people I find who say you can come and talk to me, if you are having any problems, which is pretty nice about them, but the cliched speech given by them has already been drilled into me by my parents. My question here is, cut-offs are going ridiculously high, hardly few scrape through for entrances, and fewer for prestigious JEE, and other such exams. Our relatives are more worried about our marks, and not touching the 95% mark means your child is dumb. Just that simple!
It doesn’t even end here, parents also get caught up in this fuss, expecting there mediocre child to suddenly turn prodigal. And let’s not even talk about the possibility of a child to even think of dropping a year, because oh dear, that’s such a taboo. What will people say? So no pressure there. Really.
This year is said to be a life maker or life breaker. And then the ‘understanding’ acquaintances of mine tell me to not take stress? I’m sorry but if I’m jobless for the rest of my life, are you going to transfer Rs 50,000 in my account every month? No? Then please understand that telling me to not take tension and then being shocked at my getting mediocre marks is double standards. Just that simple!
Please don’t mistake me for being too cynical, I’m just putting forth the real dilemmas of a 12thee. I could go on and on about the defects of our education system but that’s not really gonna help me, this year at least. All I’m saying is, I don’t have a solution for this stress, tension and this never ending anxiety. I’m helpless, as my body does not allow me to sit and study after consecutively attending 7 hours of school and 5 hours of tuition. And god forgive me for not practicing maths for four hours daily and choosing my precious sleep over it. I, as a 12thee, apologize for not following the “Do’s and Don’t’s” of this crucial year of my life, as that just might be the cause of speeding up my emotional breakdown.
In this article, dear reader, I do not seek sympathy. All I want for everyone is to stop expecting, as I myself am wonderfully efficient in that regard, and for everyone to stop telling me what to do. Every child is different and there is no particular way of doing things. I may not score well in these exams but who knows I might be teaching in Harvard someday?