Standard Five pupils of the Montrose (APS) Vedic School were told that after overcoming the fears and anxiety associated with the Secondary Entrance Examination (SEA), they needed to focus on finding joy in their lives.
This point was underscored by Dr Riann Bala (MBBS) when she delivered the feature address at the school’s graduation ceremony on Friday at the NCIC Nagar in Chaguanas.
She described the SEA examination as one of the hardest things children and their parents have to undergo.
She said, “Having gone through SEA, which has become one of the hardest things our country has asked of children, it has created so much worry, stress, and panic, and that’s only in the parents.
“Students have endured this time going to school and for some additional classes or lessons, practising mock tests and hundreds of questions, and feeling genuine fears and anxiety about writing SEA.
“I can tell you that it is a lot that you have already been through, and I want to remind you that you did it. SEA was scary; it was a new experience, it was your first major exam, and you did it.”
She said SEA was just the beginning of many challenges to come.
Dr Bala said now that exams are over, students should learn to experience joy in their lives. “If I have any advice for you, it will be to always find joy in living—just your every day, your present moment. Joy is not a destination; it’s not something you find when you reach a certain age or only if you’re really smart and do well in tests.
“Joy doesn’t come only if you get a certain job, look a certain way, or use the things you own. Joy is a choice you have to make every day. It is a choice to see the good in things around you; even when you think you’ve had a bad day, it’s a choice to see the good things that also happened—a choice to acknowledge the rough moments but then be grateful for the better moments and for your family and friends who help make it so.
Dr Bala told the graduates, “When you love yourself, no one can influence you otherwise. No one can put you down or lower your esteem because you’ll be confident in who you are. and that confidence in yourself, that joy, and that love for yourself will show in everything you do.”
