THE LETTER AFTER THE EXAM RESULTS
Not succeeding is hard- but it is part of our own life...
Dear friends, Candidates of our first Post-Graduate Studies Programme!
I recall the wonderful mood you all had on the day of the exams, your expectations and hopes for a new start!
Life bears Victories, indeed...- But, it also bears Defeats.
And, as far as I am concerned, my feelings touch both those edges. What's more, my Sadness is greater than my Joy, of analogous amount to the two groups you belonged to, after the announcement of the results, the Happy and the Sad,-with the Sad ones outnumbering the Happy fellows...
First of all, I would like to congratulate all of you who succeeded in entering our PGSP! You managed to master a dire procedure! I am truly happy to meet you all and co-sign with you a Page of very special Experience towards Knowledge ,which I long to treasure and have in common with you all!
At the same time, I couldn't feel closer to all of you who did not succed in being selected for our PGSP. I DO understand your disappointment!I was sad for quite a long time, I must confess, watching the number of applications for the PGSP rise - while this was a great success for our Department! When I looked at you in the eyes, one by one, I believed you could all pass! But, all the 109 of you?...The competition was high and the conditions among you were unequal, since, for our PGSP , we had applicants who had occupied themselves for years with the Art of Drama in Education and stated that they had been expecting such an MA for a long time- People , I would clearly characterize as "specialists" in this field! The day we assessed the portfolios- and we were 5 assessors- many a time I articulated this comment:"This one should teach, not be taught!".
Apart from the fact, then, that you were competing with much more qualified candidates or with Graduates of our Department-who had already been taught how to deal with both the exam papers during their studies-you obviously had not enough time to be prepared for the exams. This became quite clear from the Methodology of Research paper. which actually formed the final Results. Furthermore, the Exam Day might not have been your best one, you might have been intimidated after seeing so many competitors- or even your private and personal conditions might not have helped you perform better, as one candidate confessed to me about the very sad diagnosis her doctor had announced to her the very previous day.
