The only exam that I will never forget for the rest of my life is the university entrance test. It’s a national exam followed by thousands of high school graduates in 2001. The exam was held in two cities in East Java, Surabaya and Malang. All high school students register for the exam and then test numbers were given by the committee. I had my exam in a public high school in Surabaya, the city where I live now; I used to live in my parents’ house in Mojokerto a small town an hour from Surabaya.
I couldn’t sleep the night before; I guess it also happened to all the exam takers. I was so nervous about the exam, about my future, about what would happen the following day, and about my preparation. I had two days of exam, the first was the general knowledge test, which consists of paper test exam on math; Indonesian; and English, and the second day was the social studies exam. I prepared myself by joining an intensive tutorial few months before the exam day. I couldn’t study well too the night before the exam. I was too worried to study.
I woke up early on the exam day. At about 4 in the morning since the exam was started at 8 and I had to arrive at least 1 hour before the test. It was on Tuesday, I remember the day quite well. So my parents decided we’d leave home at 5 in the morning.
My father had started the car engine at about 4. My mum had prepared breakfast which I had requested the day before. I didn’t want to eat big meal; it’d be too early for my tummy to eat in the morning. So, my mum prepared sunny side-up in my lunchbox, with rice for sure. Wait…I brought my own plate instead of a lunchbox and I also took my pillow with me in case I’d be sleepy on my way to and fro.
My father drove the car and my mum sat next to him. I sat on the back seat and still tried to read and recalled things I’d memorized in my brain. It didn’t work actually. I was busy calming my heartbeat.
My mum decided to accompany me, by waiting for me outside the classroom. She said in the past her father always accompanied her when she had her job test. I was the only one being accompanied by a parent outside the classroom. None of the exam takers had their parents waited for them. To me that’s a privilege. It became an unforgettable sweet and also funny experience I had with my mum, she’s in heaven now.
After having a duel with the exam paper and being frustrated of the difficult questions I finished the first day test at about 10.30 a.m. The first thing my mum did was giving me a big smile and then I started to complained about the difficulty I had, she teased me and hold me with her arms. We headed to the car and I was deadly starving. We went to eat “nasi padang” a malay food on our way home. I was still having my exam shock so that I couldn’t really focus on what I had done during the test.
I didn’t remember whether I slept well or not on my first exam night. What I remember is in the second day of the test, the newspaper had a special pages discussed about the exam answered per numbers. My parents bought two different newspapers, which discussion was given by two different big tutorial courses, and the answer was not the same. I was busy checking my answers, of course I had forgotten many of the answer I made on the previous day.
For the second day exam only my father accompanied me to go to the exam place. My father didn’t wait for me just like what my mum did because he had to go to work. We took public transportation at that time. The exam started at about 11 a.m so I left home later than previous day. Was I nervous? Of course!
The exam was so difficult, more difficult than my first day. At least I knew that I could do better on the Indonesian and English section. But for the second day, the social studies which was a combination of geography, anthropology, sociology, a little math and a little English really gave me trouble. After finished I rushed to the front gate and I found my father had waited for me. He wasn’t pleased when I said I couldn’t do the test well, but what else could I do?
After weeks of waiting the announcement day came. The announcement was publicly announced in the newspapers. I was waiting for the newspaper guy impatiently when my parents still enjoyed their early morning sleep. My mum was surprised knowing me waited in the corner of the living room. I had more terrible insomnia on the night before the announcement day, worse than the nights before the exam days. When the newspaper guy arrived, I rushed into him and got the newspaper, he knew I was waiting for the exam result. I brought the newspaper into the living room while my mum was praying in next room. And the result, I passed the exam! I smiled all day long, I was so happy.
The exam is unforgettable to me, the mix of sweet memory of my late mum, my mum’s worries and passion by waiting for me outside my classroom, the journey, the exam place I had never been before, and the experience of joining a national exam was very meaningful. It is even incomparable to my undergraduate thesis exam. I was so nervous but not as nervous as having the national university entrance test.
I can picture well my mum with her green silky scarf and sunglasses waiting for me outside the classroom. Her smile, her motivation, her support, her wisdom before; during; and after the test will always stored in my mind.
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