Surviving Exams

  • Kirstin Eloff
  • Sep 19, 2011
  • Series: The Informer

Surviving Exams -

Exams are the stuff of nightmares - long after the very last question has been answered and the pages stapled together the stress and worry remain sometimes revisiting us months or even years later in one of those cold-sweat-exam dreams. How locking people in a confined space for a set number of minutes and instructing them to regurgitate facts, which they have more then likely spent the last twelve hours cramming into their brains under the influence of copious amounts of caffeine, is an accurate measurement of an individual’s intelligence is beyond me. Between the writers cramp, the mental blocks, the inevitability of getting stabbed by a staple and bleeding all over the question paper, a bladder in distress and the panic of seeing the minutes ticking by I’m
surprised anyone survives these ordeals. The whole notion is utterly ridiculous - as if knowledge can be measured in the same way as we measure how much we weigh. Perhaps it’s my background in feminist studies, and I’m sure I’ll have a mob of mathematicians and accountants attacking me with protractors and various sharp objects, but knowledge as quantifiable seems like an utterly absurd notion. Besides, who actually remembers the structure of the ear, or how to solve a quadratic equation or the main themes in Hamlet - unless you’re a doctor, a maths teacher or a person with a useless BA in English literature (now I’ll have to fend off the literature majors brandishing the Complete Works of Shakespeare). Despite this very logical argument against exams, they are
apparently a vital part of our education so - sorry for you!

So how do we, as Christians, in all this stress and craziness make sure that church is not the last thing on our list of priorities during exam time?

Tim Goldsmith has written a very helpful little article suggesting four reasons why coming to church during exam time is important not only for our continued spiritual growth but also for maintaining perspective and emotional stability during these times of stress and tension. His thoughts are aimed specifically at Matric students but I think they are useful across the board:


1. Big vs Best:
Yes, your exams are a big deal. They're big, but not the best thing around. God promises us that those people who put their trust in Jesus have the promise of ETERNAL LIFE! It’s good to be reminded of that when our whole world feels like it rests on one set of tests.


2. Comfort and Calm: When we feel like life is a bit of a storm, meeting together with other Christians can give us comfort.


3. Ministry Mindedness: It is a ministry and a reminder to the people you meet with, firstly setting a great example to others of the priority that you put on growing closer to God, and secondly it is a good reminder to people at church to pray for you at this time.


4. Set the pace!:
It’s amazing to find out that life doesn’t get much slower after year 12. There will always be big events on the horizon that will tempt us to put God on the backburner. Now is the time to set the pace that you hope to keep for the rest of your life!