{"id":81727,"date":"2017-11-23T12:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=81727"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:53","slug":"the-exam-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/11\/23\/the-exam-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"The Exam Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Once they are here, any student at Erasmus University will say the same thing: \u201cDon\u2019t have time, I\u2019m trapped in the library until next week due to exams.\u201d Yes, exam periods are without a doubt some of the most stressful weeks for any student. With pressure mounting and the student\u2019s desire to perform well, exams should be prioritised.<\/p>\n

Last week I found myself in a situation most students will be able to relate to. I walked into the infamous M Building, waited for my student ID number to show on the screen, slowly dragged my feet along the long aisle of desks and waited impatiently for my exam to start.<\/p>\n

As if taking an exam wasn\u2019t daunting enough, dealing with the oddly familiar exam dilemmas can surely shatter the confidence of even the most well studied and prepared student. To be precise, there are three exam dilemmas that haunt me days after my exams.<\/p>\n

Seriously, why do there have to be questions with two extremely similar answer options only rephrased by changing one or two words? This is obviously a common scheme used by numerous teachers to genuinely test the student knowledge. To a certain extent, these questions are justified.<\/p>\n

But then, why do I sometimes look at my answer sheet and find I\u2019ve filled in option C seven times in a row? Did the exam creator decide to have C as the answer to most questions, or do I have a strange fixation for the letter C? I really doubt I\u2019d have a fixation for a letter.<\/p>\n

By this point, I\u2019ve been hit with a jab and hook straight into my exam confidence, but wait, there\u2019s more! I then notice the most blasphemous question form being hurled directly at me: the infamous question with none of the above <\/em>as an answer option. I may be 100% sure that the correct answer is there among the first three options, but once I\u2019ve read the last option with neither of the above, <\/em>my confidence is shattered into fragments. Pure, pure exam evil.<\/p>\n

After the exam, I do feel relieved since I\u2019ve achieved another important step towards my eventually completing my bachelor. But soon, paranoid thoughts infest my mind: what if I my results are bad, awful or completely atrocious?<\/p>\n

Maybe, just maybe, it could be neither of the above\u2026<\/p>\n

Pietro Vigilanza (20) from Venezuela lives in Rotterdam since two years and studies IBCoM<\/em><\/p>\n

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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