How far is far to get far

Growing up had been a challenge for me in terms of studying in India, especially to get good grades and to be first in class. When I was in school, I used to be in the top 10 and my position was never fixed. I would in the third place and the next term would end up in the tenth place. My teachers knew I had the potential and the capability to do well but I did not push myself to face the competitive edge. When time for exams came, I would prepare as hard as I could because I had this visual memory where I would know where different passages or explanation on a term would be located in the book on what side. (not that it helped me a lot during exams because I would know where the answers were but didn’t know what the answers were!) But some students took tuition or additional classes from the teachers and when it was time for exams, those teachers would ask students who sit near their students, to help out. One time when I was in middle school, I happened to be the chosen one to help out a student who was coached by a teacher. Unfortunately, other teachers who were supervising the exam saw me helping the student. That teacher knew for sure that I was not copying but helping the other student and wanted to know why I was helping and which teacher told me to help that student. So I was torn between the two teachers. You can imagine!

When I was in high school I had the urge to do well because I had to get in good college. By then, I made sure I always stayed in top 5 but even then, never at being first. I did give the first place holders a good run. I made sure they prepared extra hard to secure their first place because they knew I would take their spot if they were careless. During exam time, other students still needed help from me and since we were in higher grades, my paper would be circulated so that they could get the answers and at least pass the exams. Some students would write the answers on their palm, hands and legs and would copy off of it. Some students would roll scraps of paper with answers written all over and would hide it behind their ears or in pockets. Looking at that scrap of paper, one could see how that white space was used in every possible way. Talk about real estate and optimizing the use of white space on that paper.

Then came the time when I went to my Engineering College. I knew I had to be the best. I was the first and remained there during my Bachelors’ and Masters’. Everyone at the University knew that I was on a roll and by default I was the first unless I had skipped taking an exam. Even then my helping friends to get the bare minimum to pass the exam never stopped. If I didn’t help, they had their own ways of helping themselves. At that time, we didn’t have cell phones or other gears and our means was the standard paper and writing on palm, hands and feet. Nowadays, cell phones are available through which you can text message the answers or write answers as a note or have your friends call in and give the answers. I saw the same concept being used in the Hindi Movie ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’, where the hero takes the college exam in a medical college with a cell phone in his pocket and wire with ear buds is all that is sticking out and some one is reading out the answers on the phone and the hero is writing away. Cool concept. I wish I had cell phones during my college days.

Now that iPod is in existence with 30gb or more storage space, you could store all the answers for all the questions for a given exam and use the same concept as cell phones to copy during the exam. All this to pass an exam where they ask a set of questions, if you are lucky enough to have studied it, you would write it and if not, they you are labeled a failure at that subject. Mountain View High School Principal. Aaron Maybon recently enacted a ban on digital media players after school officials realized some students were downloading formulas and other material onto the players. Why are students allowed to carry digital players, cell phone and iPods to school anyways? I understand that cell phones are for communicating in case of emergency but most of the time, students are just yapping with their friends anyways. Cell phone and players – even if they carry, should be in their bag and bag is under the table/desk during exams. While taking exams are they not suppose to have just pen/pencil/erasers and the papers given by teachers and nothing else on the desk – at least that’s the way I took my exams here in the U.S. If one spends half the time in studying for the exam that they spend on entering answers in iPod, I would say they would have a fair game.