THE ROYALTY

3. Day outing

VANI

As I stood in a secluded area, with a few of my friends, I realized that I, too, was feeling a bit anxious about the exam. No matter how much one studies, there are always mixed feelings of excitement, for having studied well, as well as anticipation for what kind of questions might be asked. Various doubts arose in my mind, "What if I have left out an important topic that will be asked in the paper?", "What if I forget everything that I have studied?", and the stupidest of all, "What if my pen stops working in the middle of the exam".

Exams are truly a test for the patience of students.

As I opened my book for one quick revision, I heard the bell ring. The ringing of the bell which indicates that we should now enter the examination hall, is one of the most alarming noises that a student hears. It sounds like a death bell, ringing incessantly before we all surrender ourselves.

The moment the bell rang, we all scurried into the exam hall, knowing that this was it, nothing more can be done. No new information can be studied now, and we can only hope for the best. Very soon, the chaos-filled room turned completely silent, but the chaos in our minds remained.

When I entered the hall, I was a bundle of nerves. My whole body was trembling and perspiring. I was face to face with fate in the form of a question paper. Time moved very fast. The students took their seats. Some of them prayed to God for help. Others just kept looking right and left, waiting for the invigilators to deliver the answer sheets. 

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"Vani, did you answer the French Revolution and Russian Revolution questions?" asked Nidhi looking anxious as if all of her blood drained down her body. "Gosh, I have a lot of doubts about the Rise of Hitler topics. Am I gonna fail? God, please no!" she cried.

"Yep, I did. In the Hitler one, I have a few doubts but the rest had gone fairly well only." I replied holding my question paper and furiously going over the questions I had doubts about.

In the blink of an eye, my last exam was over. It was Social Science's paper, It went well, as I answered the questions pretty well. There were a lot of questions about historical events' dates. I might have made some mistakes in that. The objective-type questions were perplexing but mark-scoring so, I had to attempt those questions otherwise I wouldn't have even them given they were infuriating me and were so time-costing. The subjective-type questions were easy for me as I had already revised the topics and notes. Overall I was sure that I can score 90+ marks in this subject. After calculating all my mistakes in answers, scoring-questions, I was finally relieved to see my performance was eligible for academic scholarships provided by schools, the government, and, other organizations. I estimated my total marks for this term and calculated my percentage. I was contented to see that I perpetuated my position this year but, my happiness was short-lived when the govt. exams preparation knocked me.

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After a week

I started my research on the examination, its preparation process, coaching fees, study material, and so on. I had a clear goal in my mind throughout my school life. I had to clear IIT and pursue a degree in engineering. Not very sure about the branch but probably mechanical. I had a profound interest in Aeronautics but then Automobile engineering was also an interesting department. I thought that this was the right time to start my preparation if I wanted to complete the vast curriculum and syllabus.  Lakhs of candidates appear every year for JEE, from which less than half of the candidates qualify. This means that the competition was very challenging and demanding. I had to give strenuous efforts and remain tenacious throughout my studies to achieve my aim.