Exam Time in Pakistan

Exam stress gets to people. I mean really, really gets to them. Case in point: a medical school in Pakistan. The annual exams (called the Professionals or the 'Profs' for short) bring out the inner demon, the green monster we usually manage to keep in check throughout the year by dressing it up in the pink sugar frosting of politeness. For some, it is also the time of the year when they laugh more than ever, use their phones more than ever and text their friends more than they have done in months. Suddenly catching up with ex-acquaintances from high school seems a very interesting idea. Facebook becomes more of a necessity than ever and even washing dishes is more inviting than course books. I, for one, even start wanting to learn Chinese.

This exam time was no different. My roommate and I managed to catch up on the first four seasons of One Tree Hill and watch all the latest episodes of HIMYM, TBBT (and many more shows). She even laughs like Peter Griffin now. By the end of the day, we would have only finished studying half of our course material and we would be laughing hysterically over the non- funniest of things.

Move out of the safety of the room and you would find, erm, 'differently' hysterical girls roaming the corridors with their books, trying to memorize everything they can and hoping it doesn't leak out of their over-burdened brains by the time of the actual exam. Everybody wants to know how much somebody else is done with. If it's less than ego- boosting, the other person is a certified nerd or a 'theeta' as university students like to call it here. If it doesn't really match the criteria of 'being prepared for the exam', get ready for some 'sound' advice on what topics to cover and how.

While the students' self- esteem may take a blow during the prep holidays, one thing certainly gets a boost- the tea and snacks section of the canteen. There are sessions upon sessions of tea- drinking in efforts to stay up for the night while we try to learn a whole year's worth of study material. Dinner is replaced by microwaved noodles (and we don't even mean the actual microwavable cup noodles).

With all our desperate attempts at studying and that too with concentration, we do manage well enough. And surprisingly enough, these are memorable times. That's how we take on the exams here. What would you do?