Daily Post: I Never….

Tell us about something you’ve done that you would advise a friend never to do.

This is something I did I’d advise no one to do. During the days of my final year exams, I was living in the residence of the university. I had a room mate ,she was a  student of Economics. She thought my going to sleep at 10:30 PM every night was a mistake . Her advice was I should stay up longer like my other classmates. At first I paid no heed to her, when she repeatedly warned  me that my classmates would fair  better than me  in the exam.After hearing this for the umpteenth time, I decided to check it out.

The following evening I stayed up till 1:30 AM. Those three hours I stayed up to study was the worst mistake I made. Since it was past my bedtime I couldn’t sleep rest of the night. When I got up to get ready to go to the exam hall I did not feel well. I panicked what if I cannot go to the exam hall was the only thing I thought. It would mean I’ll have to repeat the year.

This was not acceptable to me. I went to the exam hall, sat on my chair and waited for the invigilator to give out the exam papers. In about five minutes I saw him giving out the question papers, I was feeling dizzy and scared. When I got my paper I read all the questions, and felt I know nothing. I picked it up and read them again. Out of ten questions I was supposed to answer six.

I felt sick and scared. I read the first question and started writing my answer, it took me longer to answer six, on  a normal day I’d complete writing my exams in an hour and a half. This did not happen, I think I took all of the time allotted to us.

I realized after I came out of the exam I must not listen to any one about my sleeping schedule. I almost thought I’d fail. Thank God I survived . Those classmates my room mate talked about did not do better than me in the exam.One failed and the other one did not get more marks than me.

I told my room mate in the end, “I will never listen to you, I will sleep at my regular time.”

………………………………………:)

 

DP Daily Prompt: By The Skin Of Your Teeth

The daily prompt for today is : Share a time when you narrowly avoided disaster.  My case is slightly different. It was not the threat of losing my life . It was the threat of losing my reputation. In my university residence I shared the room with a student a year older than me. She always gave me advice about my study habits.

One afternoon she questioned my habit of going to bed early while others were studying hard.  She told me I must also study till 2 am in the morning if I expected to do well. At first I wasn’t convinced but she continued to badger me.I gave in and studied till 1:30 am. That night I went to sleep at 2 am.

Next morning I got up to get ready to go  for the exam. I felt dizzy , I told myself you’d be okay. This assurance I gave myself was not working. I entered the exam hall and sat in my designated seat. The invigilator distributed the question papers. I was not feeling any better.  I picked up the question   paper, read all the questions. My mind was totally blank. I told myself this cannot happen,I studied the whole year,I prepared well. I should be able to answer all the questions. I put the paper on the desk and began to think what will be the consequence if I don’t do my exam. It was my only chance or else I’d fail and repeat the year.

So I did the only thing I could I sat calmly for a few minutes. I straightened myself and read the first question,suddenly my memory was coming back. I began writing and took an hour to do all the questions. I knew I could not give up because that would be a disaster and my reputation will suffer.

When I came back to the residence I told my room mate in future she should never try to change my habit. I was fortunate I could pick myself up that morning and finished the exam. I resumed my habit of going to bed early and waking up early in the morning. It was a lesson both my room mate and I learned, ” Early to bed and early to rise makes a person healthy and wealthy and wise.”