Examination Priorities

When I was much younger, I was admonished often about the importance of setting priorities and considering the likely consequences of my actions. This was because it was assumed (often quite rightly) that I was prone to not thinking about either of these activities. When I became older, it became inconceivable that I should not be thinking about these activities, so I was scolded often for not doing them right. This was because my priorities and my approach to consequences tended to differ a lot from other people's.

So here are a few episodes which might serve as discussion points for people thinking about examination priorities and suchlike, especially in a school or university situation.

1. What is it that you need most?

When I was in university, I was required to take three majors. Let's call them Alchemy, Numeromancy, and Synthetic Cognition. I was pretty sure I wanted to be an alchemist, so I made sure I did reasonably well in that. In the years I studied Alchemy, I never let it get lower than 'Very Good'. However, in the second year of my tertiary existence, I was told that we had to spend 80 hours doing an exercise in 'Designing Runes of Synthetic Cognition for the Empowerment of Useful Homunculi' (or something like that). The documentation for the SC project ran to 120 pages, for some people. I was also told, "Fail the project and you will have to do a re-examination in SC."

So I did. I refused to hand up a project, was forced to take a re-examination, passed that, and continued on to the next year. This saved me 80 hours (at least).

2. What are the likely consequences of a sacrifice?

In chess, the sacrifice of a piece or an exchange normally has compensation in one of the following aspects: time, space, or practical chances. If you get your material back, that's a pseudo-sacrifice. This is also true in your studies. Let's return to the previous episode.

When the time came for me to sign up for my courses for the next year, I faced the redoubtable Professor Lee. He looked at me and said, "Of course you will not do Higher Synthetic Alchemical Instrumentalism. Your grades are so horrible, except for those in Alchemy."

I told him, "You might have better students applying for HSAI, but you will not have such a single-minded one. It is true that I did rather less than well for both Numeromancy and SC, but it is also true that I only studied the areas of Numeromancy and SC which pertain to Alchemy. Go ahead, test me."

He replied, "Maybe you have a point. Let me tell you what is happening. I have 30 places for HSAI. There is a waiting list. I will put you at the bottom, you are number 36. If enough people drop out in the next five days, you will get your place. Otherwise you will have to regret your selective stupidity."

It was interesting. I went home and slept a lot. Then I was summoned. "Congratulations, young man, you are number 25 now. That is good because we decided to shift the cut-off to 25 places."

Sometimes, single-mindedness is a good thing. Sometimes, fortune favours the brave. And sometimes, you can hear the swelling theme of divine purpose in the background.

3. What are the positive interactions between your courses of action?

My third year of study commenced. We had to do two majors. Mine were Higher Alchemy and HSAI, so I really had only one BIG subject. For two years, I had sacrificed practice of Numeromancy and SC (except where they dovetailed nicely with Alchemy), so that I could spend time in the library working out my alchemical practical experiments and documenting them. The hard work paid off when I topped the class for the Grand Alchemical Practice examination.

"I got 99.5," I told the Professor. "See, my sacrifices have some compensation."

Sourly, he looked me in the eye and said, "The test was upon 110. But yes, you topped the class. It doesn't mean you're a good student though. Although you could have been an excellent one. You are too distracted by all the other things you do."

There was some justification for his sourness. I had just won the Rhetorician's Prize in the annual debate between the practitioners of the Human Arts and the practitioners of the Dark Arts. I also spent many hours staring into the green illumination of the crystal screens at the SC laboratoria. Many, many hours. They nicknamed me Wanderer, so often was I found traversing the trees of knowledge for the fruit of wisdom in the net of the universe.

Result? When I finally graduated from the Ordeals, my Master wrote, "...interacts well with his colleagues, and has a dry sense of humour... advanced courses in group theory, [analysis of the spectral world, daedalian alchemy]... ...command of the [ ] Language, both spoken and written, is excellent... ...gifted in literary matters... ...has my full support in any future undertaking that requires dedication, initiative and creativity."

These were generous words from one I respected much, and thus even more valuable to me. But I would not have had this peculiar synergy if I had not made sacrifices earlier on. And that leads me to one final question.

4. What is the best you can do with your talents?

The answer is seldom, "Be the best-ranked candidate in every course you take." If this were true, then the overwhelming majority of people would be failures. Such an answer is suited to one-dimensional people living in a one-dimensional mechanistic universe with no Spirit, no Life, no Eternal Landscape.

Rather, as the Good Book says, "The race is not to the swift, not the battle to the strong... but time and chance happen to them all." We must then live wisely, being conscious that the time does not permit us to be the best in everything, but to allow us pass the tests presented to us. Yes, the terminology is not, "Be the best!" but "Pass the test!" Show yourself a workman approved, an athlete who has finished the race, a soldier who has fought the good fight. That you were not the first in everything is no grounds for thinking of yourself as a failure. That you are the least of all might make you the greatest.

Remember, the test is survival. For those who have survived and passed the tests, there are crowns for each test passed. Often, if we are to read the Book literally, the return on investment is minimally 100% in the final analysis, and a 10% dividend to investors for each period in which you have received income. It is not so bad; you will do well if you are not greedy for fame, fortune, and the ability to impress the weak-minded.

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I am not boasting. What I have written, I have written to show you how one man's way has produced a good harvest. But it is certainly not for everyone, and it is certainly not the best of all possible routes. Yet I am confident that my return on investment is sufficient, and as long as I can keep this true, I will be satisfied; and of course, if I cannot, I must work a lot harder - and more wisely.