Exams: Quest to make impression or impact?

The plethora of beautiful success cards reminds me of my days as a candidate.

Those were tough days, full of anxiety and uncertainty, but we conquered — and so will the candidates of 2019.

But even as we send our students to the revered altars of national exams, we must ask ourselves, “What are we doing?” Are we asking them to seek the success determined by a grade or is there something deeper?

We know that a grade has the potential of opening a door to a particular school or career path. But we also know that, for some candidates, that is a very blurred image that needs to be repainted lest they lose sight of the essence of life.

Our greatest focus, especially as guides in the lives of our children, is to help them to be people of value more than people of grades.

The value of a person is hinged on their discovering and developing their skill. Whether a student gets a high or a low grade, have they discovered their skill?

CAREER

Have they discovered that thing which they want to develop? The thing that they are willing to put hours and years into to sharpen?

Or has a grade transitioned them to a school or a career path and left them there confused?

A couple of years ago, I taught at a university that allowed some of the incoming students to refer to themselves as ‘undecided’ for an entire semester before they could fully commit to a particular study.

Identifying your niche is more than a grade; there are many doctors who wish they could be artists, engineers who think they should have been lawyers, teachers who believe they could make good fashion designers...

It is our responsibility to own our uniqueness and develop our value; that is what makes us significant. We cannot trivialise our skill and expect to thrive.

SKILL

Our candidates have something we need, not just a grade that makes an impression but a uniqueness that makes an impact.

They have the answers to the questions we are asking. They have the tools to shape future generations, creativity to birth innovations and stamina to break world records.

And it is our responsibility to point them to that which is over and above what they make.

The best the exams can do is to help the students find a grade, but the best the parents and teachers can do is to help them find and appreciate their uniqueness; that which makes them valuable.

When people are valuable, they don’t have to look for us; we look for them. When our children develop their skill, opportunities pursue them, people are attracted to them, corporate bodies invest in them and nations hire them.

VALUE

If we own and develop our skill, we will make it. The other day, I thought of making a dressing table. The carpenter said it would cost me Sh25,000. I walked away, promising to return.

But I’m cognizant of the fact that if I need a dressing table, I better find the money because it’s the carpenter who has developed that skill, and he doesn’t look for me; I look for him and pay.

Our students are not just ultimate job seekers; they are world changers. They possess the ability to transform the world but only when we discover that we are all people of value who must declare an independence from any system that limits us in any way, shape or form.

We must stand out and not just make an impression but a lasting impact.

Ms Omukoba, a communications strategist, teaches at Kenyatta University. [email protected]