recovery network: Toronto

Suli Breaks on releasing himself from the expectations, fears and received wisdoms held by others about what he needs to do, else his life might turn out, well, just like theirs….

Exams are society’s way o

@Sulibreaks

I will not let an exam result decide my fate
Suli Breaks

Right now
There is a kid finishing parents’ evening in a heated discussion with his mother.
Saying, why does he have to study subjects he will never ever use in his life?
And she will look at him blank eyed, stifle a sigh, think for a second and then lie.
She’ll say something along the lines of:
“You know to get a good job, you need a good degree and these subjects will help you get a degree, we never had this opportunity when I was younger”.
And he will reply:
“But you were young a long time ago, weren’t you mum?”
And she won’t respond although what he implies makes perfect sense that societies needs would have changed since she was 16.
But she will ignore him, grip his hand more sternly then drag him to the car.
What she doesn’t know is that she didn’t ignore him just to shut him up,
She didn’t lie because they are just returning from parents’ evening,
And an argument in the hallway would look bad on her resume.
She won’t lie because she had just spent the last one hour convincing a stern faced teacher that she would ensure that her child studies more at home,
No! she will lie, simply, because she does not know any better herself,
Although her whole adult life, she has never used or applied
Pythagorus’ theory, Pathetic fallacy, and still does not know the value of “X”
She will rely society to tell her that her child, who has one of the sharpest minds in the school, is hyperactive, unfocused, easily distracted and wayward
Students!
How many equations, subjects and dates did you memorize just before an exam never to use again?
How many “A” grades did you get, which were never asked for when you applied for a job?
How many times have you remembered something 5 minutes just after the teacher said: “Stop writing”
Only to receive your results one month later to realize that you were only 1 mark short of the top grade?
Does that mean remembering 5 minutes earlier would’ve made you more qualified for a particular job?
Well, on an application form it would have
We all have different abilities, thought processes, experiences and genes
So why is a class full of individuals tested by the same means?
So does that mean Cherrelle thinks she’s dumb, because she couldn’t do a couple sums?
And if this issue is not addressed properly, it then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,
Then every school has the audacity to have policy on equality
Huh, the irony!
Exams are society’s methods of telling you what you’re worth.
But you can’t let society tell you what you are,
Cause this is the same society that tells you that abortion is wrong, but then looks down on teenage parents, the same society that sells products to promote nature hair, looks and smooth complexion with the model on the box, half photoshopped, and has fake lashes and hair extensions
With pastors that preach charity, but own private jets
Imams that preach against greed, but are all fat
Parents that say they want “educated kids” but constantly marvel at how rich Richard Branson is
Governments, that preach peace, but endorse war, that say they believe so much in the importance of higher education and further learning
Then why increase tuition fees every single year?
I believed Miss Jefferson when she took me into the office, said that my exams would be imperative to my success
Because we were taught to always follow when Miss Jefferson led
Then I took Jefferson out of the equation and learned to think for myself
I realized, we was taught to always follow when misled
Huh, the irony!
Test us with tests, but the finals are never final
Because they never prepare us for the biggest test which is survival!
And what I suggest is fairly outlandish
So I don’t expect everyone to understand this
Except for the kids who know what it feels like to be worth no more than that D or that A that you get on results day
And the ones whose best stories were never good enough for your English teacher
Because apparently you missed out key literal techniques
Did not follow the class plan,
And the language was too “informal” for him to understand
But then he’d reference Hamlet and Macbeth
And you’d fight the urge to express your contempt by partially clenching your fist with only your medius finger left protruding in the middle of your hand
And then ask if he was aware that Shakespeare was known as the innovator of slang
Or the kid at the back of the class who thinks:
“Why am I studying something that doesn’t fuel my drive?”
But when confronted with a maths problem his eyes come alive
So this one is for my generation,
the ones who found what they were looking for on Google,
the ones who followed their dreams on Twitter,
Pictured their future on Instagram, accepted destiny on Facebook.
This one’s for my “failures” and my “dropouts”, for my unemployed graduates, my shop assistants, cleaners and cashiers with bigger dreams,
My self-employed entrepreneurs, my world-changers and dream-chasers!
Cause the purpose of “Why I hate school, but love education” was not to initiate a worldwide debate,
But to let them know that whether 72 or 88, 44 or 68,
We will not let exam results decide our fate.
Peace.