A Race against Time

Thoughts during Preparation of Third Semester Final Exam

If I am not mistaken, it was on November 2, 2011, that I first entered into the class of Janapriya Multiple Campus. Almost 18 months is now set to pass and I am still not sure how to define my experience of university learning or Bachelor of Business Administration to be more precise.

“Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself,” said George Bernard Shah once, and it was with this thought in mind that I went about my first day of University. Without my realizing it, two months had breezed by, and my classmates and I were soon to face our First Terminal Examination.

The brain starts performing strangely, almost wondrously, when it is anticipating success. So as soon as I heard the Exams were coming up, I started mulling on the best possible ways to accomplish my version of success: well-prepared-for, well-written examination papers. However, as the days went by, and the crosses on my calendar leading up to the examination date started nearing, I started wishing that the neat white empty box I had marked would remain uncrossed forever. Fear took hold of me. I began to understand what a wise man had once rightly said. Edward W Howe, an American novelist and editor known for the sharp wit having stated, “It is Hard to convince a High-School student that he will encounter a lot of Problems more difficult than those of Algebra and Geometry,” and I could not agree with him more.

When you have so many things to do, Time seems to speed up. Although I had made Grand Preparation Plans that I was determined to follow when I’d conceived them, I had failed to do so. This meant that Time had got the better of me. When you are on the right track, utilizing every moment to work towards fulfilling your dream, time starts following you. Time is a power far greater than we, after all. It is Eternal: the past, present and future all exist in it, while we are mortal, ephemeral. Men come and go, but Time is an ever-present constant.

This is what my encounter with my First BBA Examination made me realize. When you are studying in university, you never know how soon is too late. If you are willing to dither from your Plan, you must also be willing to sacrifice. You pay for your dilly-dallying. The load of homework you have been piling to do ‘later’ will eventually catch up to you. And this will no doubt affect your creativity, dominating your mental life to such a degree that you will neither be able to find nor, as Shah has suggested, “Create” yourself.

However, having been part of Tribhuvan University for 20 months now, I can safely say that it is not just the students’ dithering that keeps them from finding time for them. Curriculum that has been designed to be taught over a period of 6 months is crammed into three or four teaching months. And the pressure this creates is enough to break down many students. While this is certainly something the concerned authorities should look into, I also think this sort of pressure works both ways. While some students break themselves trying to cope, others manage to break records in rather spectacular ways.

Whichever Group of students we may belong to, I think many of us wish to keep our ‘creative cells’ working even after we have finished our BBA. My inquisitive mind sometimes questions: “Do we need education, or is it knowledge or wisdom that we need to succeed? Will I really be able to call myself ‘educated’ once I memorized all the Formulas of Statistics and Mathematics and Accountancy? Is this how a man becomes a man of Value?”

But then, another part of me promptly replies: “Who cares what the right Formula is? If I do not act accordingly, I will be left behind. Time will have won a huge one over me.”

I realize that the fact that we have crossed the “Iron Gate” and received “Intermediate Certificate” does in no way imply that we have made it. The coming days are going to be tougher than those that have gone by. After all, A silent sea never made a skillful mariner. I think we just have to accept this as a phase we all need to pass through in Life.

I sometimes find myself thinking that the Almighty wants to test my determination and strength by subjecting me to such challenges. I can only advise those who are going through the same ordeal as I, to not lose their determination and strength. Don’t break yourself for certainly, when there is a problem, there is also a chance for you to do things better. If your mind can conceive it and heart believe it, then surely you can achieve it!

Hard Work beats Talent if Talent does not work hard, and that is a universal mantra none of us can afford to forget.

A Race against Time