Exams are shit

Possibly the reason I have had the inspiration to use such a title for the piece or to even think of writing this piece should obviously be traced right back to the historical context which I find myself in (this possibly was a self-explanatory and unnecessary introduction) which is the never-ending exam period.

While reluctantly recognising their fundamental importance as a necessary method of testing the quality and level of knowledge that a student should attain, I do have to stop myself (unsuccessfully) saying: what a load of shit!

Thankfully not having had to take any form of examination last year except the annual trip to the optician for him to ‘examine’ that I can still see those weird but always fascinating tiny letters on his wall, I happened to forget how dreadful exams are in every way.

Coming to think of it, when one takes a look at how the system of moving on from secondary education into university, especially in this country, people are not really asked to show their potential or their intelligence or abilities, they are simply asked: “How well can you pass an exam?”.

While I am not doubting the obvious proportional relationship between 'intelligent' people or people with great potential with their ability to score high grades in their exams, this is not always the case. Quite a few people do get into exams instead of others simply because of their ability in getting higher grades in a series of exams.

However much we like to underestimate their importance in order to make us feel more relaxed, i.e. I don't remember myself going into an exam saying to myself "Come on, this is make or break, the future course your life will take may depend on this piece of paper right here", there is no doubting how important they are. But just think of how many people missed out on let's say admittance to a leading university on a minor thing or just luck, not whether or not they were academically better than someone else who made the grade.

Yes, I know the dividing line between success or failure is thin in a 21st century post-modern world driven by the internal struggle of competition among individuals and bla bla bla, but sometimes I do think that a better way must exist of testing knowledge, applying skills, intelligence, coping under pressure and all the abilities that an exam is supposed to be testing.

I understand that the ideal end to this piece would be to give my wonderful solution to this issue, but I am afraid it is not happening tonight, I just wanted a good confidence-boosting 3.30 am whinge after having wasted a day of my life trying to no avail to identify whether common and civil law systems in Europe are converging or diverging.

-NS-

“Where do I start?”

I am probably no different from most people in that this question describes exactly what my biggest and most challenging problem is. It’s the first dilemma of the day when you wake up in the morning, and it follows you wherever you go, conveniently applying itself to any situation or issue in need of tackling. On a side note, the realisation that life has become something that one tackles is in itself a worrying issue: Horace's "pluck the day" has become a harsh "Squeeze the shit out of those 24 hours", but never mind.

As far as writing is concerned, I am convinced that some of the world’s greatest potential authors never even made it through their first page or even to their first word, and I blame it on this same question: “Where do I start?”. It is a paradox in the human intelligence that one can envision the greatest inventions, plan the most intricate and complex plot or have thought a process a million times through, yet when the first scriptural brick refuses to fall into place of its own accord, the disbelief and uncertainty that sometimes follows is often more than enough to blow away the confidence that was. A man comes to the conclusion that he is only a man, and nothing more... but the truth is, there is more. Success inevitably springs out of nowhere and nothing, yet still necessitates dedication and effort. Success requires ingenuity, ingenuity is achieved through creativity, and creativity requires faith: faith in oneself, faith in one’s abilities, faith in one’s beliefs, one’s dreams and one’s fears. Of course, compared to the world and all that has been achieved in its societies, you are nothing. But what is the world without you? What is the world without all of those like you? Those who have feelings, passions, dreams, fears and insecurities, just like you... Those who, claiming as their own these emotions and ideas, drove the world forward with their own creativity? Nothing, the world without these people – you, us – would be nothing.

So start from the beginning, start from the end. Pick up where you left off, or simply start all over again. You can’t lose what you never had, and in the end you’ll be better for you’ll have tried.

end note to self.

-APG-

The thinking behind this marvelous creation

Ok, just to let you in on our idea for this blog... Basically the idea began some time ago by me being jealous of other people having blogs and then asking the question, hey why can’t I have one? But it did move on from there into basically deciding with Andrew to create some sort of a platform that provides the opportunity for anyone in fact who is interested to write something about anything basically... I know that this description sounds too broad, but it’s true. We will welcome anything that comes to mind, from politics and talking about the latest political developments, philosophy, a joke, a song, just to put some interesting pictures up, anything really, and hopefully this blog can gain something from all of us! We are very much looking forward to the development of this blog into a worldwide sensation. Woohoo bring it on!

-NS-

The Greatest Donkeys of the Universe

This is a great story representative of Cyprus and its donkey-loving population. Its a shame it takes donkeys to unite the Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the island!
You can see how important Cypriot donkeys are in a worldwide context when you take into account that this story appeared on the BBC website a few days ago :)

' Donkey campaign unites Cypriots '

Greek and Turkish Cypriots have teamed up on their divided island to save endangered wild donkeys.

The initiative was launched on the social networking website Facebook after 10 of the donkeys were found shot dead at the end of March.

"Let's stop the massacre of Karpas donkeys!" says a message from the group, which has attracted more than 2,000 members.

The Karpas Peninsula in northern Cyprus is home to several hundred donkeys.

The Facebook group says the Karpas donkeys "are the symbol of Cyprus and it is our responsibility to protect them".

The messages, in both Greek and Turkish, are a new gesture of unity on the island, whose communities remain divided by a UN-patrolled buffer zone. The breakaway self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey.

A group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots rallied on a beach in the Karpas Peninsula on 13 April to "Save the Cyprus Donkey".

The Karpas donkeys are a legacy of the 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus, when Greek Cypriot farmers fled the area, leaving their animals behind, the AFP news agency reports.

-NS-