Passing My Sons Examinations!

It is Exam time once again. And I am all stressed out. Yes, you heard me right! It is my teenager’s exams and I am the one who is worried about his preparation.

A happy-go-lucky chap, my son, has fun throughout the year except for the gaps that come in for his exams. That too, I think he gets serious about (or, pretends to!) because his mother insists so!

I remember as a child, being extra cautious about my exams. There were many reasons for that.

One, there was no other way out.

Two, I was expected to study hard and do well.

Three, my report card had to be signed by my parents and I did not want to be scolded for doing badly.

Four, the ranking system made announcing ranks in class by the Principal a hugely self conscious and image building/losing affair.

Five, I really believed in doing well.

As far as my child is concerned, he studies in school because for him, school is a great place to interact with students and teachers, more of a social network for him instead of a source of academic learning.  He doesn’t bother much about expectations from him. He is in a grading system so, he has to only worry about a few alphabets – A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D and E. And yes, there are no report cards in his school!

Every year as he passes from one class to another, I pass too. I am a student once again. And honestly speaking, I don’t at all enjoy it as much as I did when I was literally a student.  The reasons again are many.

One, I had lesser distractions so studying was a fulfilling job.

Two, I loved reading books.

Three, I did not have too many friends but the ones I had were good friends.

Four, my parents were strict!

My teenage son has too many facilities and distractions available for him. Academics is not the only source of learning for him. Practical learning catches his attention far better and he does well too. This is evident in the career graph in his extra curricular activities that runs high (while his academic graph is just okay kind of). Ask him to entertain a group of people and he is a big hit. Ask him to sit down and study for half an hour and he screws up his face.  Ask him the formulae in Mathematics and he scratches his head. Ask him the names of mobile gadgets and their prices and he rattles off…

I am comforted by people who say, that I shouldn’t worry too much. The moment my son has to start preparing for his Public Exams he will take to studying like fish to water. And I nod my head not fully convinced.

I have this faith valve within me, that is confident that my son will do well in life. But then, the future is far away. It is the present that baffles me. And this little rascal is pretty much aware of that! So, until that brilliant and pleasant future appears before me I shall keep learning, studying and passing from one class to another with my son engaging in his practical learning of how to make a mother worry for HIS exams!

 

Shail Raghuvanshi is a freelance journalist, content writer, editor, book reviewer and poet. She has 15 years of writing experience in newspaper, magazine, radio and television. She has worked as a Spoken English Teacher too. She runs a blog for writers called Write Space  and blogs at her personal blog Muse N’ Motivation. A daughter, wife, mother and friend, she believes that there is no situation that can’t be made better. Faith, Friendship and Family are what makes her life complete.