THE SUPPLEMENTARY SHEET

Who the hell fangled examination? I think learning would have been a very absorbing and fun filled activity if there was nothing like examination. Students are normally ecstatic during the learning process but become "over serious", too focused and antsy once they hear that examination is fast approaching because once a student is done writing the examination, there are two things involved; it's either he/she succeeds or fails. Many a student will start reading each course like never before while others will prepare to set a formation right inside the examination hall where they will be able copy from all perspective or better still, graith answers and take it into the hall surreptitiously. All these things happen as a result of fear of failure in the hearts of the unprepared which normally escort their examination.

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In every class, we have the brilliant, the average and the below average students. They all emanate from the same kind of academic treatment but different background efforts. In my second year in the University, I discovered that so many students will just come to the examination hall just to intimidate others with their silly and unnecessary requests. How can a student request for a supplementary sheet when he hasn't written anything meaningful in his entire booklet of 8 pages? Oh God, this is really a threatening scenario.

When we were writing an examination on a course called Particulate Engineering, a fourth year level course in Chemical Engineering, which was a two hour course, I barely started writing when my friend who sat right behind me requested for a supplementary sheet and in my inner mind, I was like "Jesus Christ of Nazareth!!! What is going on?" I felt seriously intimidated and what did I do to feel among? I immediately requested for two supplementary sheets. The invigilator was shocked to the marrow and demanded to see what I had written. That was when I started breathing through my mouth. When he discovered that I had about 4 blank pages left in my booklet, that prompted him to inspect my friend that collected the first supplementary sheet and behold, the only meaningful thing that he successfully penned down was his registration number.

It is worthy of note that this supplementary sheet is originally meant for those that have so much to write that the space provided is never enough and translates directly into a high level of intelligence but I found out that many people do collect this same supplementary sheet to continue writing nonsense and they end up having poor results.

It is not all about the supplementary sheet, neither is it about the length of what you have written but the quality of your answer which is characterized by the points you make in relation to the question you are answering. Don't be intimidated provided you know what you are doing.

Hope you enjoyed my little silly experience....