Mahtab Jamil Niloy just went through one of the most hectic months of his life in the form of HSC, and he knew he had a bigger fight to settle. The year was 2018, and like every other teen, Mahtab was way too excited about the FIFA World Cup, although the upcoming uncertainty about the future was bothering him quite a bit as well. In his own words,"In our country, there's always pressure on a student to study properly from their family. I am no different. Still being a football fan, I was very enthusiastic about the World Cup in 2018. I had just finished my HSC exam, and we were nearing the end of our peak period of admission preparation."
Other than that, he was looking into another option, "I was preparing to go to the army. Well, that came as a plus, as I knew in the back of my mind that I was likely to get selected for the army. So I used to use some emotional reasoning so that I would not be able to watch football again. So I used to balance all that fairly well.”
Mahtab's situation is not unique, and this is something almost every Bangladeshi student has to face. Every year during the peak time of public examinations or admission tests, either a mega sporting event takes place or any popular television series releases its newest season, making it extremely difficult for the examinees to go through the ordeal while they are preparing for some of the toughest examinations of their lives.
This year, when there are only a few days left before the inauguration of the ‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ a.k.a. the FIFA World Cup, as well as the recently concluded World Cup T-20, somehow the routine of the HSC examination has coincided with the same schedule as from November 06, and the students are sitting for an examination that will decide a lot of events in their future.
This has made it extremely difficult for the students to enjoy the festivity these sporting occasions bring to a country like ours, as getting immersed in all of them will make it extremely difficult for them to secure a good result. However, the events are too tempting to be missed, hence creating a huge dilemma for the students.
However, it’s not all gloomy, as many have managed to strike a balance between these things in their own academic lives. Mahtab Jamil Niloy said,"Our parents say that the World Cup will come after four years, but the HSC or admission test will never come back," which is somewhat true.
He suggested the students study throughout the day and keep those 90 minutes as rest time. He also added that the human brain needs rest, and after a whole day of stressful study, a student could use a 90-minute break.
It is not wrong to spend a few minutes watching the games or the TV shows that get released during these times, as they not only help the students to focus more on their studies afterwards but also make them cheerful, which could be instrumental in bagging a good result.
As we suffer from extreme panic and anxiety as well as uncertainty about our future, taking a few moments off from what comes next can facilitate our overall well-being and is essentially an effective coping mechanism. However, one must be careful not to become completely immersed in these and would prefer to watch during their own recess, as watching games or TV shows would feel far more satisfying than at normal times.
The writer is a fourth-year student of Economics at the University of Dhaka.
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