iPromote

not only did i get promoted, but i topped my form class in h1 physics with a D (there are only 5 ppl taking physics) and received an improvement award for my spectacular 114% increase in score for maths, improving my grade from a lousy U to a..... better U.

i was totally expecting to have status:retained at first but literature marking leniency and desperate last day physics cramming saved me from the anticipating jaws of RETAIN.

a friend once told me, i'm the kind of person who will always come out ok in the end even when everything is wtffffffff screwed up along the way. i haven't been able to prove him wrong, but i really really wonder how much this will last. shitty sloppy last second preperations aren't gonna cut it for block tests, prelims and A levels next year.

getting promoted is still only the bare minimum. ten years ago i was still like whining over how i got 99 and a HALF for my subjects and what a PITY. WHAT A PITY. now i'm happy to just get above 45 marks, even though its not even considered a proper pass. getting an E shows that you're competent less than half of the syllabus, which is really kinda pathetic. how freaking pathetic i've become.

but we can't really be blamed for this. our education system is obviously designed to demoralise. in lower primary i breezed through tests and expected to score at least 97% most of the time. i even brainstormed for ways to get more than full marks. then in upper primary the notch is upped, full marks are no longer realistic and you can just hope for band 1 grades.

but secondary school is really the turning point. suddenly getting 80-90% and above is deemed impossible and you're classified as a freak with no life if you get such scores. standards are lowered. few expect you to do better than 75 and it becomes the new 100%. anything above that is merely useless bonus. then in upper sec, the concept of RETAIN is first introduced and we start celebrating so long as we are passing. then the O levels results are out and you've jumped up to grades that you haven't been seeing for some time. oh wowweee hurrah we weren't that stupid afterall!

enter JC and everything falls apart for me again. getting a subpass gives some sort of relief. a pass deserves a little celebration. euphoria and disbelief from getting a C.

how pathetic. but a promotion is a promotion, just glad to have pulled through.