It`s that time of the year when every 2nd PUC student is excited, anxious, curious. Exam Time!! And two years of pandemic taking college life to a ride students are having mixed feelings regarding exams, the mix of fear, excitement, curiosity. This time, students are going to write the examination the way it used to be, which means the results are going to be the way they used to be. Some doing extraordinarily well, some doing extraordinarily bad.
This article consists of experiences of those who have taken more than one attempt to pass the PUC 2nd year and are presently building a career in one or other fields. It mainly focuses on providing a reality check of the situations that 2nd PU students are going to face once they fail until they pass. This article is targeted at only students who are still not serious about the examination and who are yet to gain the confidence of doing well in the examination.
We all have heard of stories wherein a student who has failed in 2nd PUC and later reaches the pinnacle of success in life. But not every failure does that. What every failure does is go through a series of events where he finds himself alone, humiliated, feeling of regret, loss of self-esteem, etc. In this article, you will find such real-life experiences of people who are now leading a good life in various fields, positions, and capacities. Now, though they are happy with what they are doing all of them feel that, the particular period of 2 to 3 months,1 year or 2 years that they had to go through after failing in 2nd PUC examination still brings nightmares to them.
Result Day!
One of them, couldn’t control but rolled down into tears when she shared her state of mind on the result day. She recalled she was stunned; she didn’t dare to go back home. Until the moment she reached home, her mind was blocked and there were absolutely no thoughts and for the first time she felt uneasy to enter into her own home, the home where she was born and bought up. Somehow she gathered courage and informed parents about it, and parents were also upset but supported her morally to face the situation.
“With telephone calls ringing from relatives, neighbor dropping in to enquire, I felt like I am the most useless person and there is no future for me,” she said. Another friend explained to me how he was upset only for a few minutes as all of his friend’s gang had failed. He didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation even when his parents shouted and were very much upset. Because each one of his friends would come and say “I have failed in only two subjects PCMB and English” some would say “I have failed in only one subject PCMB”
Reason for Failure
When asked about the main reason for the failure, surprisingly none of the people contacted said that subjects were tough, but all of them think that they did not study. And each day was spent enjoying with friends, roaming, bunking classes, bunking tuitions, having fun while intuition etc. The majority of the people used to go to tuition regularly. On asking how can students have self-realization about it, one of them said that the reason, why he was least bothered about exams and studies, is because there was no supervision or monitoring on him. So he suggests parents visit at least once or twice to the college and also the tuition.
More than that students have to bear in mind that each day might pass with fun and not studying but ultimately result in a day is going to come and it will come with a big bang and parents are going to realize what he has been up to for two years.
One of the feelings that troubled most of the students after failing in 2nd PUC is the feeling of dreams being crushed, the feeling of being a failure for entire life. Most of them even though are doing well in life, still, the tag of failed in the 2nd year haunts them. Some were bothered about studying again, whereas few lost their smile for more than 6 months. Few felt that they will become laughing stacks in front of friends, family, relatives, etc.
Incidents:
On asking regarding the humiliating incident they went through, one of them recalled “When I visited my friend’s home who had passed, his father insulted me in front of strangers by telling about my father’s position in society and how children can be a humiliation to parents”. Another one recalled “For next few months’ even if I turned on the TV for few minutes or take mobile phone even for a second, mother would shout “Do this only and you will pass in the exam”, later when she complained to dad, his response would break me from inside”. His response would be “I don’t have any hope in him, what else can we expect from him”. Most of the people I talked to said they distanced themselves from relatives, family functions, outings, etc. until they joined further studies. Few were even restricted regarding any new purchases, eating out, etc. Few were bothered by uncalled advice from relatives regarding studying.
On asking experience regarding studying again they said that there was no company or environment of studying as they were alone. One of them recalled how he joined a tuition class, especially for failed students. That too tuition was not in his home town. Another one said he joined agriculture with his parents for eight months, though until then he had never visited the field except during festivals. Another one recalled how he did a job in a mobile phone shop as he didn’t dare to ask for money from his parents. One of them recalled how he was sent to tuition, and he was the only student. The tuition teacher would taunt him whenever he made mistakes.
Overconfidence!
Surprisingly, even though all of them agreed that they were not regular to college and tuition. Did not study or complete homework, assignments, etc. but none of them thought they would fail, and the result was a surprise to them. So students who are not serious about examination and studies but feel they will not fail need to rethink. The people with whom I interacted said that now they feel, their behaviour during two years was nowhere like they would pass. They would go to college, attend one or two classes and roam around the college, then roam in the city. Sit with friends and time pass till afternoon. And the afternoon go back home as if they have completed college and come back home. And in the evening go to tuition and have fun with friends. Few of them opined that in the home also they would act like studying but use the mobile phone, read newspaper chat with friends, etc. They recalled how they would promptly attend tuition at 6:30 am and then head to college directly from tuition. And nowadays mobile phone is extensively used and everyone is addicted to social media and games. So if your behavior is the same and feels you will pass easily, you need to take a step back and rethink what you are doing.
Suggestions
On asking what suggestion they would give to PUC 2nd year students who are not yet serious about exams and studies, they shared that 2nd PUC students need to make sure they are not distracted with any of the things and do not get into any habits. How much ever they enjoy with their friends they need to make sure they are in touch with the subjects. One of them opined that the only way to ensure passing is to solve previous year’s question papers as if they are writing board exams and get them corrected by the teachers. Another one opined that joining next course with same friends is a pride feeling which cannot be replaced
So with hardly a month remaining for the examination, the students should do a self-analysis on where they stand. This provides Confidence to students that they can face the exam and also the result with confidence. And if the result is otherwise they will have the confidence of doing well next time and when a student is confident, no distractions, attractions, comments can bother him. Students need to realize that trouble or difficulty passing the examination is negligible or very less when compared to the trouble or difficulty of failing the PUC 2nd year exam. And when asked “How tough do you think 2nd PUC exam is?” most of them felt that it’s not that tough provided students study a bit.
Above are the opinions collected from 12 people who are working in different capacities including government job, business, private job, staying in places like Belagavi, Athani, Bangalore and few in overseas. And they feel nobody should experience what they have experienced. Hoping that this article will make students learn from the experiences of the people and start preparing and develop the confidence to face the exam and result. Do share this with PUC 2nd year students whom you feel are not serious about the examination, and let’s wish all the PUC 2nd year students Very Best for examinations. Also, do share your experiences in the comments.
About the Author-Nachiket Hanmantgad, Lecturer at K.L.E Societys College of Business Administration Lingraj College (CBALC) Belagavi