So the exam is coming.
What is better to be added to the already shivering winter than a piece of anxiety with sprinkles of uncertainties? Perfect recipe for trembling I would say.
While the strain is mounting as the days are approaching, chill up would not be the wisest thing to do, at least not literally as we sure have enough cold already.
What is a student if not for the exams?
Though the question could be indefinitely arguable, as it pertains shallowness in describing a should be holistic adaptation of the learning institution or individual, the answers to it would not be far away from the consent remarks of the idea behind it even if one does not totally succumb to the whole provoking hypothesis.
In other words; the perfect definition of a student would be incomplete without the inclusion of exams in the delineating sentence. Even if you beg to differ, you still could not get yourself free from it.
Exam however, is not a bad thing no matter how worried and distressed we are over the casting shadow of it. My advice would be that if you can’t beat it, embrace it, and move along from there.
Human usually would be afraid of something of the unknown. Ironically, exam has been one of the closest companions of all of our times since the very little innocence of age to what we are now and unsurprisingly would continue to be one along with our increasing age of maturity. Yet we still get jumpy over it.
Life is a test. Examination is the process. Live life, do exams.
For all of my limited education life, I could see this relatively short period as a chance of yet again improving ourselves not only in the written papers or oral assessments, but as an individual as a whole especially in our connection with the almighty creator Allah s.w.t.
During the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) examination season, there would always be the final gathering where the seniors after all those frantic years of oddly wacky behavior finally got themselves up to apologize to everybody and make up for all the uncountable troubles that they had caused in the past.
It would not matter whether the apologies were truthful or not, the excitement of the words coming from their mouth was enough to soothe away all the hurts and anger that they had instigated.
The musolla were filled again, the discipline teacher would gain more leisure times and the whole atmosphere unbelievably could finally breathe the normal harmonic air again, at least until the following year came.
All thanks to the powerful aura of the examination.
Likewise in the university years, the burning of our midnight oil usually continues with the prostrating on the prayer mat begging the mercy from Him to help us through this time of need.
This is indeed the time where we felt that most of our times were beneficially make used of and the pleasure of doing goodness elevated especially in ways of increasing faith and strengthening the ukhuwwah.
Those who have finished the exams would visit those who haven’t and cooked or cleaned for them or simply came for a light chat to imply that in no matter what condition, each and everyone of us means much to each other. Life means more when it is being shared.
HOWEVER
This pattern does not seem to be followed here in the land of pearls and wisdoms, the land behind the magnificently structural intelligent creation of the pyramid and the land where many of prominent scholars were born and produced.
It has been observed and in no secret that students here be it medical or Islamic studies students, the vast majority of them, when the exam actually came, have failed quite badly in managing the more free time that were granted. It was the time for movie marathons, addictive video-gaming and non-stop internet session updating on the personal page of how boring and distressful lives were with download quotas hit the maximum almost instantaneously as if the world ends tomorrow. Even if the world ends tomorrow nobody would care unless it affects the internet speed performance.
Many of us would be disappointed of the faith level and how poor the adoration was due to the worries of the exams. Regret is good if only you could produce something positive out of it but if it was taken as it is without any further improvement, then it would only eat yourselves up leaving you in a more depressed mode.
It is like we are fighting the battle of our lives and all the entertainments are the only help of keeping the mind free from the anxiety. If exam is a battle don’t you think you need Allah’s help to win? We are muslim. We have so much strength in our side. It is just that we sometimes forget. It would be afraid that we would continue to do so if we are not reminded.
It would not be fair to actually serve all of my fellow friends here with all this criticism since I haven’t been involved in much details of everyone’s life, at least not yet. It’s just that I am like many other people back there in our country, expect more from all of you guys here if not academically then at least to have a very good shakhsiyyah level as an individual as a muslim.
What is a Malay student studying in Egypt if not for his high level of honor and profound thought?
Or
What is him without the lack of time management and profound immerse in worthless entertainment?
It sure is not something to be proud of to be labeled in a bad way of such and such but if we truly want to free ourselves from all of this underestimation, it would be very logical to start to make a change from within ourselves now.
Verily, God does not change men's condition unless they change their inner selves (13:11)
If I don’t have a slight care for you I would have shut myself up and let the mistakes continue to be made but I guess even if I have the whole tremendous of care for you, it would not matter much if you yourself do not start to think of your own goodness.
This is not an order but more of a call for all of us together, hand in hand, try to make use of the upcoming exam periods as fruitful as possible as yet again the time for improvement and after the end of the term, we would rise into a better, much polished person.
It is time for all of us to start seeing something as more of an opportunity than difficulty. Every cloud has a silver lining. We just have to let the sun shine.
copy pasted from The Exam Prologue.
ps; i'd like to quote one common saying, "Allah pandang pada usaha, bukan hasil". kenapa Allah bukan pandang pada hasil yeah? kerna, Allah lah yang mengtakdirkan hasil tersebut. be it good or bad as we may perceive. tapi kalau usaha kita sekadar ala kadar, main game / sembang / tunggu orang lain bagi soalan spot beserta jawapan, adakah itu usaha yang kita mahu Allah pandang?
mari muhasabah.
teguran untuk diri dan semua.
wallahualam.
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