Board exam and my life

When the whole state is very much happy about the cancellation of board exams for 10th grade, today I had a walk through of my memory lane when I was in my 10th grade. Now, to give you a brief about me, I was known in school for maintaining good grades, and a lot of people in my school had hopes for me. Now, my parents wanted me to maintain my grades, and I decided to come up with a strategy for my board exam preparations.

I am not trying to justify my strategy, but I should definitely say that I was very much comfortable with my study plan. I am not a person who was much comfortable with memorising all that was in the book. I can't produce answer on the sheet if I don't understand the concept, and that's it. There is no short cut for me in my study pattern.

So, until 9th grade I was much into extra-curricular activities and managed to maintain my grades, but in 10th grade, I wanted to focus a little extra on my studies, and therefore I sketched a plan. I didn't want to brush through every lesson every time during exams, but rather wanted to get clear with every lesson, with lesson focus on the quarterly and half yearly exams.

I came up with a pact with my parents, that they should not consider my quarterly or half yearly marks. I also clarified to them that I will focus on my final exams, and I assured them that I was not memorising the concepts but instead, I am trying to understand everything in it. Thankfully, my parents agreed to it.

I started my schooling for 10th grade, and my teachers were not at all happy with my marks in my quarterly exam. But, it really didn't matter to me. I knew in my heart that I was preparing for my final exams, and I personally felt nothing wrong in it. My marks weren't low or upto failure but there were merely above average. My teachers started panicking, but I explained to them that I was working for the final exams.

Also, I am not the person to write exact carbon copy of the answer on my answer sheet, and some of my teacher wanted word to word replica of the book in the answer sheet. They gave me low marks even when I had the answer right on the paper, but reworded to my convenience. I didn't want to convince them that my answer was right because, you see, my focus was on the final exam. My classmates would literally beg the teacher to add marks, but I didn't care about what was given to me as marks for my quarterly and half-yearly.

My parents understood what I was trying to do. I was only trying to understand every lesson deep rather than trying to brush up on each lesson every time during the exams. Days went on, and the final exam date started nearing. With prayers in my heart, and hopes for a better grade, I completed all my exams. When the results came out, I was the school topper. Most of my classmates were shocked, thanks to my very own study strategy.

I am trying to place myself in 10th grade in the 2020, and all I can see is a depressed me, with heart full of regrets. I still can't picture myself facing such a situation. I am sure I would go through a severe breakdown. So please, if you see any of your child going through breakdown, talk to them and convince them that it definitely is not the end. When a door of opportunity is shut, another will be open.