To those who did really well: congratulations ! All your hard work has paid off. You'd be browsing through newspapers and websites in search of scholarships. All the best with that. As for those who didn't, do not fret. REALLY! I know this sounds easier said than done. Obviously, you're the one going through that situation.
It's totally fine that your results weren't excellent. Why?
1. Your A's are just mediocre.
At the moment, you've just set up an image of a poor performing student in the eyes of society. Thing is,your result slip is just a ticket to get you into college. Once you're in an institute of higher education, your results don't really matter anymore. The A's and A+'s are just average. People just look at you as someone who's damn good at memorizing a textbook and vomiting all of it during an exam. Yes, achieving straight A's is no easy task, lot of hard work goes into it. But do you know the amount of students achieving the same results throughout Malaysia? Yes, you might think that a higher number of A's would make you stand out among your peers. True. But temporary. In college you'd probably be seeing that kid who merely scraped through his SPM excelling and coming out as the best student of that center. Why? They're passionate and interested about the stuff they do. Where's the value of that A now? Despite your large number of A's, you're just looked upon as ordinary.
2. I need that scholarship!!
Yes, some families are in the dire need to get scholarships in order to pursue their further studies. What happens when you don't meet that 8A requirement? That's where you gotta get that bums up and go in search of an opportunity. Sometimes it comes knocking, other times just make an effort to get it. Opportunities are all around. If you have the character and courage to explore possibilities, success without a scholarship is most definitely possible. A wise man once told me, if you've the ability to talk and convince people added to the belief in yourself, you're halfway to victory.
3. Memories stay
20 years from now, which one would you look back at and have a good laugh? The time where you sat mugging and mugging or the time where you just did something really silly and laughed till your stomach ached with your bunch of friends?
4. Talents
High school is supposed to be a place where you fall and get back up. You experiment and experience many things there. Friendship, slander, monkey love (okay, maybe some are actually true love) and it's where you discover yourself. You find talents within you that you yourself wouldn't have realized. It is the foundation for you to start discovering who you are and what you are good at. When I am at college, A LOT of my friends have their own talents. They play musical instruments; they take stunning pictures, they are good at socializing, things that you can’t learn if you are just confining yourself surrounded with books and books in your own room.
5. No one really cares, in the end.
You think your boss is going to be impressed with your beautiful exam slip? Maybe JPA, Petronas and Bank Negara might glance through it, but no one is gonna be amazed with all your certs. What makes you stand out is your character, your personality, your experience. Excellent results seem priceless beside those.
What now?
Nothing is too late. Go out. Socialize. Read more. Try something new. Explore things you were hesitant of doing before. Interested in studying further? Go seek your available options. Think that you've had enough of mugging books? Find a job that interests you. Teach others. Do social work (something not to be taken lightly)
All you gotta do is to start taking action and prove those naysayers that you're more than what they think of you. Don't have that attitude where "I don't give two shits of what others think of me". Good, in a way. But use it as criticism to improve yourself. I'm pretty sure no one wants to be looked at as a waste in society.
All the best!
