Though this might sound like pushing it too far, this is what students are usually told about the exams and they have no way out but to work as much to their parents´ expectations until they start their almost three months long vacation. No wonder they dream of reaching the top of the world during the long break. [break]
But the break wasn´t quite as fun as what Daxika Bhandari, who took her SLC examinations from GEMS school, Dhapakhel, Lalitpur, had expected.
“I did think of doing a lot of things during my vacation. When it really started, the excitement probably lasted for a week or so. I had expected the vacation to be different from the previous ones, but I was wrong,” she says.
The long vacation is a leisure time for students, a time for recreation, adventure and experiences. On a related note, when Bhandari was asked about what she did to keep herself busy, she adds, “I tried to utilize my vacation to the fullest and joined many courses from which I could learn many things. I joined the British Council for academic writing courses; attended Spanish classes as learning a third language seemed fun; and most of all, spent time with friends and family.”
Despite all this, Bhandari didn´t find the break all that exciting.
Neha Patrabansa from Galaxy School, Gyaneshwar, joined music classes at Nepal Sangitik Vidyalaya, Battisputali and computer courses that included graphic designing. Patrabansa did all this hoping to make the break different and interesting. But even she wasn´t quite satisfied.
She had planned these activities a long time back thinking they would be exciting. “But I didn´t enjoy them to the fullest,” she says.
The girls were not alone in finding the break boring.
Boys reached by Republica, who had diverse interests and spent their holidays in a much different way, also found the break unfulfilling.
“My vacation was boring. I joined a music institute and went for a few motorbike rides to Nagarkot and Thankot. Overall, I missed friends and I´m soon looking forward to joining a college right away,” remarks Niraj Bairali from Ideal English School, Chabahil.
He had wished to pay a visit to Pokhara but couldn´t due to political problems. “The bandas and crises gripping the country are sickening and these are some reasons that exacerbated my bad experience.”
It now seems that the vacation after SLC, often called the Iron Gate, is not a euphoric experience for students anymore.
But Awarnit Khadka from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidyalaya (LMV), Lagankhel, has something different to say. He has ample amount of time to decide on what course of study to choose and also time for some adventure. Overall he says his vacation has been very productive and amusing.
What frightens, yet excites most to the students is apparently the SLC results, which the students have desperately been waiting for. On this hyped-up topic, Bhandari thinks that the excitement no longer remains because of repeated false rumors that have been doing the rounds for a month about the results coming out.
“I end up laughing every morning after I see the newspapers and do not find the results,” She says with a smirk.
Everyone has been aiming for distinction or first division and would end up depressed if none happens. “I´m pretty scared but am hoping for a distinction,” says Patrabansa.
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