midterms

Last night until about 3 in the morning I was hanging out at McDonald’s along with a couple of friends determined to get some studying done. In one of our 10-minute breaks I couldn’t help but comment on how we deal with exams and our expectations for the results. As the years go by our standards seem to be going down. You can say that it takes less to make us happy (that is, lower scores) but really it’s just that exams are becoming immensely more difficult. Plus, there certainly is just too many things to remember.

To illustrate, here is a typical conversation after exam results are given:

As first year students:
Kumusta ang exam?
Ayos lang. Mataas naman ang nakuha ko.

As second year students:
Kumusta ang exam?
Pumasa naman. Ayos na rin kahit sabit lang. Babawi na lang ako sa susunod

As third year students:
Kumusta ang exam?
Syempre, bagsak. Buti na lang high failing. Sana makabawi pa sa susunod.

I suppose this is how it will be like next year:
Kumusta ang exam?
Anong exam?