From the time we were able to open our mouths and utter words of silence, we were consecutively reminded by our parents and teachers that education is the key to success, and without it we are nothing. We were driven by these words of wisdom and was determined to be successful in life even though half of us hated school. Many days we wake up at the break of dawn, to prepare ourselves for school, angry at the world that we had to be out of bed so early. Solely wishing and hoping that we could just curl up under the covers and go straight back to sleep. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to. Mommy, daddy, or grandma yelling at the top of their Lungs, "get up, it's time for school". As you roll over hearing these words, your forehead became wrinkled by the anger and frustration build up inside, but you can say nothing. You remain silent and just do as you were told.

Many of us thrived in school to do our sole best, from going to class everyday trying our hardest not to miss a class, staying up all night studying for exams. Cup after cup of coffee trying to stay awake. Long sleepless nights, having us looking like a zombie in the morn. Confident in yourself that you'll pass the exam, "I got this" you say, but as you sit to take the exam, write your name on the top, left hand corner, everything you studied just automatically seemed to fly out the window. As you sit and stare at the paper, your mind becomes blank. And as you enter this detrimental state of aura, all you could think about is failing. With nothing else to do and no where else to turn, you try your luck and you turn it in. Only to remember everything you studied as soon as you turn your back and walk away. Sadly for you, being in the 21 century, the teacher wouldn't think that you even studied or perhaps even paid attention in class and start to look at you in a different light. You failed the test, but you don't know how because you spent all night studying, your mind begins to ponder as you begin to question the mere concept of this theory, but you fail consecutively in trying to find the hypothesis. There and then you begin to feel like it's the end of the world, and you start to lose faith, giving up hope that things could turn around for the better good. But should we ever let an exam result determine our fate?

In a recent video I watched entitled "I will not let an exam result decide my fate", with the spoken word artist, Suli Breaks, he discourse the actuality that the profundity of education and foresight of the school system is just a fabricated probe to substantiate students’ mere ability to recap everything they have been thought on a piece of paper, judging them solely based on their performance on the exams. But it's profound that not all people perform well in exams so why are they made out to make us students feel like we're dumb? I myself can relate to this, simply being that I am not a good test taker myself. The inconsistencies of the education system are really peeled open to reveal a deep problem that needs to be addressed. But when it all boils down to it, why is it that we are indeedly misled into thinking that education is the only way forward for successful means in our work and career lives? We need to expand our minds, open up our horizons and educate ourselves, and adhere to the fact that exam results are not the barometer of success and that we cannot and should not let them decide our fate. We are all in charge of our own fates and destinies.

As I embraced every retrospective word Suli Breaks said, I took heart to every little word and detail he spit in his poem. As I listened closely and attentively two specific quotes he said captivated my attention. The first one was a question he posed, "How many equations, subjects and dates did you memorize just before an exam never to use again? How many "A” grades did you get, which were never asked for when you applied for a job? How many times have you remembered something 5 minutes just after the teacher said: “Stop writing". Throughout my high school years, I have always asked myself these questions, when I reached to Trig class and were introduced to Pythagorean theorem, I asked my teacher "Are we ever going to need to know this stuff throughout the course of our lives?"and she looked at me, smiled and said "No, but I have to teach it to you". I have applied to many jobs, from the time I was 16, I am currently 19 now and still haven't got a job. Being an A student, doing good in school, means nothing in the corporate world. I am not a good test taker at all. I could be an all around A student in class, but when it comes to test taking I would not do so good as I would in other stuff. Believe it or not, majority of the time I remembered the techniques, strategies, and answers to every question the minute I hand in the paper. I use to think something was wrong with me and never quite understood the reason for this. For Suli Breaks to prose these questions I then knew I was not alone. As he said, "We all have different abilities, thought processes, experiences and genes. So why is a class full of individuals tested by the same means?" This is one question I would never know the answer to. But as Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Our 21st century education system "Test us with tests, but the finals are never final, because they never prepare us for the biggest test which is survival!". The provocative eminent factor about this line is that while tests do test your knowledge of a certain field or subject, you should never allow yourself to think that final exams are the end-all, be-all of your knowledge.