January 5th
There were 3 days more left to study for the economics prelim on January 9th, and I was completely clueless as to what I was doing .I couldn't comprehend head nor tail. I couldn't even skip the exam as I had missed the 1st term exam due to illness and if I repeated this bunk I would be heading to war(economics board exam), completely untested.
There were 3 days more left to study for the economics prelim on January 9th, and I was completely clueless as to what I was doing .I couldn't comprehend head nor tail. I couldn't even skip the exam as I had missed the 1st term exam due to illness and if I repeated this bunk I would be heading to war(economics board exam), completely untested.
January 9th
The day of the paper made me feel miserable . and after labouring for 2 hrs inventing my own economics I felt worse, terrible . Maybe it was the first ever exam that I had managed to fail in.
January 31st
The day was good and yet bad. Good cause well I hadn't failed, bad cause 40% . For the first time I actually feared that I may fail the board exam
February
The alarm bells were ringing. It was time for drastic action now. I had rescued myself in another board exam, but I didn't have the time I had 2 years back. Option 1 (play by your strengths: selective studying by analysis of previous question papers) of course that presents a big risk considering you have to bear in mind the consequences if the plan backfires.
The pattern was found
14 chapters 7 in each section
asked equally in each subquestion
It was simple . Omit 1 section and study the other one extensively in detail.
I did try to share my plan with with others and responses I received were "do not play with such an important exam ", "ARE YOU MAD", "I'm just gonna study everything ". That however didn't deter me considering it never bothers me what opinions are formed about me. However the thought of devoting time to a lost cause was not appealing as in doing so I might jeopardise my chances in other subjects.
Economics was the 4th paper and the previous 3 had gone reasonably well. Sociology was on the 27th and following that very shamelessly I took a rest day and the 28th saw 2 world cup matches firstly India vs West Indies and the epic classic Australia vs New Zealand. Yes I did try to study but it was pressurising. I didn't know where to start and what to do. Just one and a half day more.
March
Suddenly on Sunday the 1st of March sleeping became so important and I had two spells during the day(unusual: possibly the result of depression ). At 4:30 that evening 18 and a half hours prior to doom time I decided systematic elimination was key. For the next 10 hours till 2 30 am I memorised the full chapters one-by-one from section A. And took chances with a distinguish between from chapter 13 (a constant in 3 previous board papers) a 8 mark answer from chapter 8(Part of the omitted section but the only 1 out of 4 from the text which hadn't been asked in a board paper before). It came as a 4 marks short note.
Following a 4 hour nap I got up at 6 30 am and basically just re read at random.(It truly is incredible the power of one's mind when they begin to panic and are scared)
10:30 Am D-Day
Reached the centre with a slower walk than usual. and was actually shivering at the thought of facing my worst nightmare(had I been facing a Boggart at that time it would've been an eco paper complete with legs and cackling menacingly walking towards me ). There were a few all the best shouts to me but I just was trying to stay calm. Had my plan worked?? Or through sheer overconfidence I had just secured myself a seat for an October re-exam. The half an hour made me the holiest man on the planet. I was just praying and waiting. The papers were handed out and slowly the feeling retuned to my legs the plan had worked I knew the questions. There were just 1 or 2 places where I would have to be creative but nowhere else. Still on my mind was the fear of me losing focus after seeing an easy question paper and possibly forgetting answers as due to the selective studying I had by default decided which questions would be left out in option. I felt slightly nervous after seeing a few "ECO Machines continuously requesting for supplements and writing furiously." Yes complacency did strike, but I managed to counter it though at a cost. I didn't finish my paper but I managed to write whatever I wrote without that feeling of "oh I should've not written that".
Of course I felt good. I had felt amazing after my English ssc exam which turned out badly so despite my feeling I knew that only once the results were declared I could be satisfied about my gamble.
May 27th
It was the day of the HSC results and that evening I had just touched down in Mumbai and I thought okay then let's just get it over with .The results were out over 6 hours back. I was scared as I had finally understood everyone's comments about the exams being considered as a lottery. Having been stabbed in what I considered my strongest subject just 2 years ago I was wondering what Pandora's box had in store for me here.
The result was a healthy 81% but what stunned me the most was the 79 I secured in economics. It was such a wonderful moment to see a respectable score next to the worst subject there can ever exist(IMO). The gamble had worked and felt spectacular. On March 2nd I had pulled off the most epic exam comeback ever. It felt like a miracle. Like Christmas, New Year and my birthday had come on the same day
Always remember to believe in yourself and have faith in your abilities. And above all NEVER GIVE UP
