© Victor Ochieng’
As Form Four and Standard 8 candidates prepare for final exams set to start soon, teachers are piling plenty of pressure on them. Teachers are squeezing them to get the sweet liquid of success. Somehow, candidates who clamour for comfort fail to see the need for such positive pressure. No wonder, some complain and fail to obtain best grades. Yet, precious things like diamond and gold go through intense pressure.
To begin with, in my candid conversation with candidate classes across the country, I have tried to implore them to develop additional layers of the skin to help them cope with high levels of pressure that mark homestretch.
In a larger sense, as they run the last lap, Form Four students and Standard 8 pupils go through the whole syllabus as a way of polishing pale parts. Schools serve several exams. Candidates revise intensively and extensively. The tight academic programmes can be a bit tiresome and nettlesome.
Again, at homestretch, candidates sometimes wake up early and sleep late. Schools compel candidates to sacrifice and go the extra mile. They impress upon them to stretch beyond elastic limits. This lends credence to the wise words of Dr. John C. Maxwell in his heroic book titled The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. In that great text, on ‘The Law of the Rubber Band’, we read: rubber bands are useful because they can stretch. Likewise, human beings also become useful only when they can stretch.
Consequently, in our pep talks on Finishing Strong Strategies, we have been instructing candidates to draw a circle with four layers. The inner layer (core or nucleus) represents comfort zone. The second one stands for capacity zone. The third one is the stretching zone, and the fourth profile (close to crust) is the stressful zone. Based on that frame of logic, it is clear like crystal: When candidates operate at their comfort, they are far from stress caused by persistent pressure and severe stretching. Somewhat, our schools are rife with ilk of learners who are just there. They are in school confusing activity with productivity. I am talking about candidates who are not conscious of climes and times.
An elite athlete like Eliud Kipchoge who told us that no human is limited, would be swift to state that athletes go through plenty of pressure in form of painful practice and preparation.
Albeit, our secondary schools are also replete with candidates who are conscious of the reason of the season. There are calibre of candidates who are seriously stretching. They have room for elasticity. When they think of the glory of garnering good grades, they accept the plenty of pressure that emanates from powers-that-be and teachers.
In actual sense, every candidate should know, becoming a valedictorian is not a walk in the park, but an onerous task, which behooves them to toil and moil. For Wise men from the East sagely say: No sweat, no sweet. No pain, no gain. No rain, no grain. No scars, no stars.
In addition, the sage said: No price, no prize. In the distant past, Winston Churchill observed, “Greatness is preceded by paying the price.” Being that candidates are the elders in the school, they should display some reasonable levels of maturity. Albeit, sometimes age fails to mark maturity. Therefore, responsibility is the sure mark of maturity. Responsibility means response plus ability. Having the ability, but lacking response is a wild goose chase. It is zilch. It is zero.
Furthermore, to augment my argument, I can posit: Strength and struggle goes together. Some heroes and heroines we lionise as strong people, also go through a lot of struggle. An elite athlete like Eliud Kipchoge who told us that no human is limited, would be swift to state that athletes go through plenty of pressure in form of painful practice and preparation. As a scribe in this dispensation, I have said it the umpteenth time in other letters that athletes dedicate 90 per cent to preparation, and 10 per cent to winning.
Finally, there are only two pains in life: the pain of discipline and pain of regret. Candidates who are true champions know that choosing to adhere to rules and regulations is painful. Self-discipline, self-control, self-drive, self-regulation and delayed gratification is sometimes pensive and painful. The good thing is that going through the pain of discipline saves a student from the pains of regret, guilt and good grief. The path of discipline is full of useful thorns and thistles that prick people, but prepare them for the chilling challenges of life. For we should never lie to ourselves that life is easy. No, it is not. Life is rife with strife. The ride of life is not smooth per se. It is a cruise through crisis. It is bumpy. It has potholes full of pain. No wonder, the pressure at school prepares learners for the vicissitudes of life.
The writer rolls out talks and training services in schools. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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