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Apparently Winston Churchill never said the words quoted above, which are so often attributed to him, but it encapsulates an idea that we could all live by. Let’s think about it in our context.
The end-of-year exams are upon us. You are tense and stressed. Are you going to make it? What if you don’t?
For some of you, it won’t matter that much. It will be a temporary setback, little more than an embarrassment. Your family have walked this road. They will understand. They can provide a safety net if you stumble, both now and in the future. Once you start looking for a job, they can introduce you to a professional network and teach you how to operate in that world. They can always advise and support you, emotionally but also practically. That doesn’t mean you don’t often struggle, but circumstances are not completely dire. You are not alone.
Many of you, however, are not that lucky. Your family, most often your mother, did everything they could to get you this far, but they can offer nothing more. For you, the degree you’re working towards is not merely a qualification, but a passport to a different future. You may feel alone and exposed, with an enormous responsibility on your shoulders: not only for your own future, but that of the family. In those circumstances, the normal stress of writing exams is multiplied, because you believe that failure will be fatal, the ruin of all the possibilities.
Here are a few ideas to help you work with that burden.
1. Face the fear
Sit down somewhere quiet, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and face the fear head-on: “What if I fail this module?” What exactly will that mean? Can you write a supplementary exam? Can you “carry” the module into next year, in other words carry on with your degree, but do this extra? Will it mean an extra year? If yes, how can you manage that? Think through all the consequences, not to scare yourself even more, but to make a plan. Life will go on. You will find a way. If you have a plan, it will be easier.
2. Take action where you can
If there is time before the exam you find so scary, work with double your usual intensity. Go back to our previous newsletters about using AI to help you study, making sense of your work (those were last week and the week before) and building understanding. Work. Use every available hour to get as much done as you possibly can. (Remember that you have to sleep, though, otherwise your brain cannot absorb and process the information. Get to bed at the same time every night, sleep for at least seven hours, get up, start again.)
3. Take the long view
No future employer will ever ask how many times you rewrote Stats 102. Nelson Mandela failed all six papers in his first attempt at final-year LLB exams at Wits. It is not the end of the world. If you really need this degree, you will find a way to see it through, even if you have to take a detour. It can actually become part of your CV – employers look for evidence of resilience, grit and determination. A story of how you overcame a hurdle will boost your chances, if you responded well. Because…
4. It’s not the stumble that matters, it’s the response
If indeed you fail one or more of your papers, you have to do some serious thinking afterwards. You have to figure out
- Why it happened,
- How much it matters to you, and therefore
- What you are going to change to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
This is not for now. This is your homework for the quiet of the summer holidays. You may even go as far as to reconsider your chosen field. You may not be cut out to be an accountant, but could thrive in Public Administration; or change from Psychology to Education. Whatever you decide, be brutally honest with the person in the mirror. That’s the only effective way to move forward, to find the courage to continue.
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