A VIEW OF THE WEEK: One brutal exam does not make a bad matric

Nearly one million students are sitting for their final exams from this week, with most of them having spent sleepless nights filled with anxiety.

It’s normal to feel nervous or even overwhelmed when, for years, you have been told that this time and months of intense study lead to this one moment. It can feel very all-or-nothing, like your entire life hinges on this one moment and your brain’s ability to remember things when you need it most.

It does not matter whether you are writing in a school hall, classroom, or correctional facility; the pressure is the same- and so is the chance you may totally blank.

So what do you do if your mind suddenly starts resembling the bottom of a coffee can at month-end? It can be hard to shake off the overthinking and sense of doom, but it is important to step back and realise that you know more than you think you do in that moment. Just trust yourself; you have made it this far.

Box breathing- close your eyes, breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds, and then hold for 4 seconds- can help calm you down, as can repeating a motivational phrase or mantra.

And when it is all over, and you feel like you have been run through the washing with the heaviest stained jeans and stinky towels, realise that this feeling will not last forever.

Most importantly, what you feel right now about yourself and your life isn’t the truth, and it isn’t your value. Your future is not shaped by anyone other than yourself; only you have the power to decide when you are defeated.

A wise woman once made me learn this quote by heart so I would never forget it: “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough”.

That does not mean that failure will not be our companion on the journey of life, both matric and beyond, but only we choose if it overtakes us. We choose whether it shapes who we are.

Doing well in your matric final exams can be an important step on your path to your goal, but a misstep does not mean that goal is no longer achievable.

If your results are not what you hoped for, or not enough to get into a study programme you had your eye on, there are several services to help, from requesting a remark to applying to rewrite your exams through the Department of Basic Education’s Second Chance matric programme.

While matric exam time can be exhausting and an emotional rollercoaster, you do not have to feel like this moment will make the rest of your life. You may freeze, but that does not mean your life is now frozen forever.

You are more than what you feel after one exam. You have got this, Class of 2026.