To All Twelfth Graders of Indonesia

Ah, the national exam…Last year, we had it “good” in one way or another. The government insisted on holding the fateful test despite widespread protests. They also doubled our workload, and our stress levels too. We were the first batch to go through six-subjects national exam; our seniors did only three subjects. In effect, our teachers and principals were forced to pump out all efforts to make sure everyone graduates on time with scores as high as possible. Arranging special hours on the tested subjects, going to tutorial services/huge-money-extortionist, and hunting the previous year’s test papers (anything more recent than that clearly violates the law, and it’s lame).

Probably you are experiencing something similar now. All the anticipation building up in your head and stomach. Various visions of worst- and best-case scenarios. Reciting prayers you’ve never known before and doing rituals you eschew in normal times. The feeling that you are still missing an important piece of information that will prove useful in the exam. The fear of making a ridiculous simple mistake. Don’t you just wanna explode? However, I’m not making this post to scare anyone. In fact, I’m doing the very opposite of scaring people.

I am hoping that all twelfth graders in the country, who will have their tests starting April 20, will get the best results for all the preparations they’ve made. Special prayers goes out for the students of my high school, Al-Azhar 1 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta. Don’t you let your teachers and parents down. Additionally, climb up that Top 10 High School ladder once again!

I believe that you have studied all the topics that they will dish out in the exam. (Otherwise, you’re pretty much screwed) With only a day left, there’s no time to catch up on anything and seriously, no screaming and stressing out over the 5-days-for-eternity - We have enough depressed people right now.

Tomorrow is your cool-off day and don’t underestimate the power of cooling off. Your brain has been working it’s ass off (weird choice of words, I know) and I bet it’s on the verge of setting itself aflame. So, calm down and be cool. You won’t lose anything by not touching the books in a day.

I hope that you can easily dig out your knowledge to answer all the questions. It would be very sad to just know about the question but you can’t seem to pinpoint its answer. Last, I seriously wishes you tons and tons of good luck. Believe me, you need it.