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| painting detail from Route de Versailles, Rocquencourt, by Camille Pissarro. |
It’s rare that I post something unplanned, but here I am typing a post that I’m set to press ‘publish’ on as soon as I’m done typing (picture steam emitting from my keyboard).
This spontaninety has been brought on by a little thing known as Results Day. For those of you outside of Britain, Results Day is simply the day which punctuates the summer holidays of high schoolers aged 15-18 to bring news of their exams, which often dictates the next steps in their education/life. Or so it seems.
Having only recently graduated from uni myself, I’ve been particuarly pensive about Results Day this week. My own is now a distant memory, but it’s more the idea that we allow so much to rest on those single little letters that’s been playing on my mind. I’ll never forget being absolutely distraught at my CCC grades, but I managed to get into uni and now I’m happily working a fantabulous job just months after graduating. Humble gloat over, but there are thousands more stories like mine.
My advice to anyone who collected results today is this:
Whatever you got in that brown
envelope, just know that it does not define you.
Of course that’s not to say that excelling in exams isn’t an achievement in itself. Your hard work has clearly paid off and you’re perfectly entitled to celebrating your results.
However, it’s important to remember that exams (particuarly in school), can only test
you on a fraction of the information that’s at our fingertips today. And
that’s the beauty of this digital age – if your grades didn’t go as planned,
the world really is your oyster. Start a blog, start a business, learn a
language*, learn astronomy – it’s all there, you just need an internet connection and the rest is up to you. Find that thing that creates sparks in your mind, something they
didn’t teach you in class and take it upon yourself to read, write and
talk about it. Consume every Wikipedia article you can find on it. Hone in on online communities and connect with fellow passion-ees. Sign up for e-courses and attend webinars. The potential is truly infinite.
Regardless of whether you got what you wanted or are feeling
disappointed, just know that the hard work doesn’t stop here – no matter
which route you take ✨
So, congratulations to those of you who got the grades you wanted, I hope you celebrate appropriately! For those of you who weren’t as happy with yours, I hope this post provided even the slightest solice. Success is all about how you define it!
What are your thoughts on academic examinations in the Age of Information? Do they still matter or should there be alternate forms of assessment?
Sinéad xo ¦ Bloglovin ♥ Instagram ♥ Google+ ♥ Twitter ♥ Pinterest ♥ Facebook
*If you genuinely are interested in learning a language online for free, I’d sincerely recommend Memrise!
