Thursday 2 June 2016

GRADES: Passing And Failing

So i haven't really read this over so i apologise for any grammatical errors that may occur.

N.B. this post i realised is mainly geared towards the failing part....not much of a balance i know


So, as a UWI student, no matter what is said by most persons above you there are just some things that you have to experience on your own. Now as a Science and tech student, the stress of the faculty alone leaves you miserable half of the time. Finishing up my second year, I’ve observed a lot and there are just so many things that I either never expected or didn’t think would really happen. By now you know what this bog post is about if not then I have no words for you really.

        When I came to UWI people always told me, go to your tutorials, and lectures, get involved, blah, blah, blah. The whole works and so I tried my best to listen. By the end of my first year, I realised what they should have told me about tutorials in specific are ‘DO THE TUTORIALS BEFORE GOING TO THE ACTUAL TUTORIAL’. Maybe they thought it would have been given that I would have but no. I don’t know about the other faculties that much but I am convinced that in first year Sci and Tech weeds you out, They give you the most demanding timetable especially if you want to have options for second year if you’re not 100% sure about what you want to do. I remember in first year I’d have class straight from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening and then after that you either had labs to do or tutorials due the next day, next week, etc. and not to mention the fact that you’re advised to read over your lecture notes/slides and prepare for the next lecture. Sometimes you have to wonder…’are there really enough hours in the day?’ And then after your first year you realise how many people decide that it’s not for them. Too hard and switch faculties. You know where they end up sometimes? The faculty of social sciences or if they did so excellently and this was their plan from before they end up at Med Sci.

        Being a person planning to graduate from Sci and Tech, I decided maybe it’s my duty to help pass on some of my limited knowledge. Now, in regards to when you actually get your grades, that’s what we’re really here for. UWI’s pass mark is 50% as you would know by now. IF you’re in or have ever been a part of Sci and Tech and NEVER failed a course then good for you. I applaud you and would love to learn your technique. I’m told that knowing your studying technique and making sure it’s effective for you is the way to go but even then so far, most people I know have failed AT LEAST one course from that faculty. Most times after you’ve failed something you want to know why? How comes?(especially if you thought you did really well) and why once more. I’m the type of person that stresses over grades but at the same time doesn’t stress…I don’t know how else to explain it.

        The point of all this ranting though is to tell you that even though you’ve failed, it’s not the end of the world. Cliché, I know but it’s true. You will recover. How do I know cause I’ve been through it all. And some people when reading will say, ‘I didn’t read this to hear from someone who failed one course to tell me that it’s gonna be alright, you don’t know what I’m going through’. I do. I’m not gonna give a number of how many I have failed because it’s really none of your business but I just wanted you to know, if you really want it you’ll push through. One day things must be better. That I honestly believe, if I didn’t, I would have given up a long time ago. So when you go to sas and you see that F(insert other letter and/or number here) know that there is something called a resit. You can do MEX or in other cases MLX. If it’s a factor that you’ve failed the coursework and so you have to do over the whole course. Push through. Use it as an advantage in your favour by saying, well I’ve done this before and maybe I didn’t catch it the first time but this time around I’ll do much better cause I already kinda know what I’m getting into already. No one but you knows the circumstances that caused you to fail, whether it be family problems, anxiety problems(like myself), you didn’t attend enough classes, you didn’t study as you should have or you hated the subject and had to do it. You have to sit down and say to yourself, I’m going to do this. I might have failed but I can keep going. To help push you along think about the money being spent to send you to school. Whether you’re financing yourself, you’re on a scholarship or even a family member is paying for you, that money had to come from somewhere and the person paying it has faith in you that you can do it. You want to make it across that stage that day of graduation and be able to say I did it. Or even if you don’t go to the graduation you have that degree proudly displayed.

        When it comes to passing there are usually two feelings I associate with this, relief or absolute joy. Relief that you actually passed and you’re just glad that you don’t have to do over the exam. And joy that yes I knew I could do it and I did. I passed and with a decent grade. Some persons I’m told are disappointed at their grades when they have seen them. This has happened to me once and it wasn’t a Science and Tech course. Soooo, I can’t really relate to that part. But passing is a good thing. Look at it and enjoy it and know that you can do better. Look at that grade and say to yourself, I knew I could do it and next year, now knowing what method I used studying for this course I can use it once more next year. IF you’ve found a studying technique that works for you, don’t change it because if someone says that ‘you shouldn’t do that’ unless it’s affecting your health, what works for you won’t necessarily work for me. And that’s ok.
        
Now at the end of this very long blog post, (probably the longest one I’ve ever written) I leave you with one of many things you should know. At the end of the course you should have learned something because in the next year, you’re just going to be adding on information and at that point it’s going to be a little late to realise that you never learnt that because of swatting(even though we all do it). That being said know that if you have failed, it is still possible to come back from it.

Xoxo

:)