The time has come for 2017 Grade 12 learners to sit for examinations.
Anyone who encountered this period would know how interesting and stressful this experience it is. It is interesting because it marks the beginning of the learner’s exit out the school system…it has been a long twelve-years characterised by sleepless nights, sweats and the whirlwinds of life.
Let’s face it; reaching matric is a milestone…even if you were ‘condoned’. It is a great experience being in matric and it is even nicer knowing that years of ‘school uniform’ are over. It is wonderful knowing that you will never have to do a class- or homework.
Being in matric and sitting for examinations can be stressful. It is stressful because it is the end of one phase of a trajectory that leads to a desired future. It is stressful because there is an undesired reality called failure…hence some matriculants commit suicide at the news of failure.
Failure in itself is not a problem. It is a response to failure that makes it a life-threatening reality. Sitting for exams is stressful because there are pupils who failed and their failure serves as evidence that Grade 12 is ‘failureble’. So, a girl or boy writing their paper would have to make sure that this reality does not befall them.
A National Senior Certificate is amongst the most important certificates that a young person must obtain in his/her lifetime, especially in this dispensation. Not only does it satisfy one’s self-actualisation needs, it is, to many of us, a path out of poverty. It represents hope. It serves as a ticket to one’s intended future.
A word of advice
The beginning of success takes place at a point of self-understanding. Passing Matric is made possible by an intra-personal motivation. Something ‘in the inside’ must be strong, as the old song says.
The source of motivation is located inside. You can get the best motivational speaker on the planet but if there is no force inside, success will not be realised. The force I am talking about is a strong wish or desire and an intention to pass.
Pupils who do not possess these intra-personal ‘success factors’ are unlikely to make it. There must be a determination to make oneself proud. If you are determined to make yourself proud, you will make your family and community proud, then you will make Moretele Region and Tshwane Region 2 proud, then the province and the country.
It all starts from self. I firmly believe that it is these intra-personal success factors that pushed some learners in Vuwani to obtain distinctions under practical circumstances that almost made it impossible for them to write their exams. When there is a strong urge inside, the ‘outside factors’ are rendered weak. In addition to this, there are extra-personal motivators such as one’s family and community background.
Most of us passed Grade 12 surrounded by demotivation both in the family and community. Often, success requires a decision to beat the odds. If no one in your family and community completed Grade 12, you should be the first.
This is the time of the year wherein everything must stop but not books. I normally tell learners to put ‘on hold’ any and every activity that has a potential to distract their attention. It is a season of sacrifice. It is a time of the year where TV, goal-less friends, Facebook, Whatsapp, Netflix and unnecessary visits must be sacrificed.
Passing Grade 12 requires some level of selfish-ness. No person will die if you can momentarily shut down your social life in order to focus on this all-important moment in life.
It helps to create time for rest. At this juncture, a bulk of studying ‘has taken place’. This is not the time to inundate your brain with information. If you have not been studying you obviously have to undertake some damage control. But still, you need a considerable proportion of rest to ensure that your brain’s function is optimised.
If you have been studying then you have an edge. This is time to consolidate everything your brain has been exposed to. Do not panic. Do not allow those who have not studied instil fear and panic. You have done your groundwork, now it is time to apply your knowledge. The Bible says we are not tested beyond what we can bear…and this applies in your situation.
A little bit of prayer works. Of course, you must have studied. Prayer does not perform any ‘exam room miracle’ if you have not studied. Divine intervention takes place when human efforts have been exhausted. Divine intervention takes place when human efforts fail to produce results.
Prayer also serves as a shelter against demonic activities. It is the nature of the devil to disrupt, distract and destroy. You certainly need God to protect you throughout the examination period. There is also a sense that God does remind you of some of the contents you would have studied. Never undermine the important role of prayer.
Finally, success seems to favour collectivism. There is power in united efforts. It is advisable to find a likeminded fellow pupils who aspire to pass. The saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’ tends to be applicable in many domains of life. When you have such as a team you are in a context where you can share your stress, challenges, revelations and energy.
If wishing you all the best will help, I do wish you a successful examinations period.
