The Love-Hate Relationship with Exams

Exams are probably one of the things students hate the most. They take away our precious enjoy time, and we just want them to be completed as soon as possible. But here’s the strange part — as the exam comes closer, our mind suddenly fills with motivation to learn new things and experience something different. And then, when the exam is finally over, we lose that motivation and start feeling bored.

But why do we feel bored after exams? I’ve felt the same again and again. Is it because the adrenaline during exams is actually doing something good to us? Or is it because exams are a reminder that time is moving fast, and we haven’t accomplished anything big yet? Or maybe the fear of exams is actually a reminder that fear isn’t always a bad thing — maybe it’s something we need to push ourselves forward.

Fear, Pressure, and the Hidden Benefits

Exams are one of the most common things in any teaching style, whether it’s practical or theoretical. It’s just a way to judge how much we’ve learned in a certain time frame. Different cultures and systems have their own ways of testing it. I’m not here to decide whether exams are good or bad — that’s something you can decide for yourself.

But what I do know is that exams create a deadline, and the fear around it makes us feel like it’s judgement day. You might have heard students ranting that this education system is useless, that it only wants us to remember theories without any real practical knowledge. But you’ll see the same students finishing a whole six months of syllabus in just a few days.

So… can we really say exams are a bad thing? Or do they actually help us learn in ways we don’t notice until it’s all over?

One thing I know is that fear can turn a person into an animal capable of doing incredible things. I’ve heard stories of mothers lifting cars to save their babies. That’s what fear and adrenaline can do. Some people even chase that feeling — they live for that thrill. While most of us want a chill, comfortable life without stress, we can’t deny that fear and adrenaline give us something to aim for. They give us purpose. Life becomes exciting when they’re present — even if it also gets a little stressful. And I think exams bring those same feelings into our lives, even if it’s just for a short while.

I mean everything feels interesting during exams to do. We do various things rather than study. Me and my friends play cards during exams which is way more interesting and fun during exams.

The Strange Peace After Exams

We often think of stress as a bad thing and try to avoid it at all costs. And while it’s true that too much stress isn’t good, maybe it’s not as bad as we think either. If it were, why do we feel purposeless, bored, and demotivated when there’s no stress at all? I don’t know about others, but this is how I feel. I tend to get more things done when there’s a deadline or some pressure. I don’t enjoy extreme stress, but a little bit of it keeps things exciting and meaningful. Of course, everyone experiences this differently — it really depends on your nature.

I may be going really off-topic on this one. I started with why we get bored after exams, and now I’m just explaining random things. But forgive me, I’m not really a writer and to be honest, I’m also getting bored writing this since my exams are over too.

What Now?

I don’t have fixed answers to the question of why we feel bored after exams. Maybe it’s the calm after the storm, something we actually deserve. Or maybe it’s because we don’t have anything else going on in our lives except exams. What we can do is start building hobbies and goals, and set small deadlines for them. We should enjoy doing things not just for the sake of earning money but for the sake of learning and enjoying.

In this modern world, most of us have become physically weak because almost everything is a desk job now. And I think being physically active has a big role in making life more exciting and less boring. So move around, try new hobbies, make goals, learn different skills, connect with nature, do silly things, scroll social media, do whatever you feel like doing.

I think having a purpose doesn’t always have to mean helping others or making money. It can even be something random or useless like this Thesillyweb . But if it gives you a reason to wake up excited, maybe you won’t feel bored anymore. Just enjoy and be chill. There isn’t the reason to search the meaning for everything just be chill and happy.

So yeah, maybe that boredom after exams isn’t so strange after all. Maybe it’s just life asking us, ‘Now what?’ And it’s up to us to give it an answer — not always serious, just meaningful enough to make us smile when we wake up.