Sunday, April 28, 2019

Examination Story

Tension filled the hall; numerous eyes bored down their examination papers and
brows were furrowed in deep concentration. The hall was silent and you could hear the
scribbling of answers down on the test paper. The clickety-clack of the examiner’s heels
could be heard as she walked down the rows invigilating. Her razor sharp eyes tracked down
every move, not letting anything pass.
I stared regretfully at the blank paper before me; a bitter taste of defeat punched me in
my guts as answers failed to come to my mind. I did not study at all. When the time was up I
handed in the paper and prayed for the best.
A few months later, it was the day that our results were released.
“Class, today, I will be revealing all your marks for your PSLE (Primary School
Leaving Examination) Science paper,” Mr Tan, our form teacher said.
I had not slept well the whole night. My heart thumped profusely against my ribs. I
looked around and saw that everyone in the classroom also had worried looks plastered all
over their faces. Mr Tan called for us to collect our test papers.
“Tom!”
As I heard my name being called, I stood up from my desk and walked briskly to Mr
Tan. In my mind, I imagined that I had scored 90 marks. But to my horror, when I looked
down at my paper, I saw that I had only scored 69 marks. I was speechless and stood rooted
to the ground. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was not seeing things.
The world came crashing down when I learnt that I had scored 69 marks for my PSLE
Science paper. I tried to swallow the bitterness in my throat and ignore the dismay that swept
through me at that realisation. At the same instant, I imagined hearing my mother’s heart
shattering into a thousand pieces. It would be devastating news to her, as she had pinned all
hopes on me.
Suddenly, a thought came into my mind. Should I change the marks to 96? Or should
I just be honest? I pondered a while more and decided to change the marks to 96 and after my
mother had signed the paper, I could just easily change it back to 69.

When I went home that day, I tool out my correction tape and taped it over the marks. I
changed it to 96. Then I went to ask my mother to sign the paper. Little did I know that my
mother would check through the paper.
“Tom? Why is it that you can get 96 marks yet you have so many mistakes?”
“I…I…”
I was speechless. I decided to tell her the truth. She told me that cheating would not
help solve any problems and that we should be honest. Unable to contain my grief, I buried
my face into my palms and wept uncontrollably.
As the saying goes, “Honesty is the best policy.” I have learnt that being honest is the
best thing you can do. From this experience I realised that we should not do things that go
against our conscience. I would never perform such a silly act again. i will make sure my other exams are written with hardwork in it.
 written by sritha

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