results matter

Time: 1:20am. Music on the speakers: Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, op.83

The euphoria of yesterday has subsided. I'm rather pleased with the results some of my students got. One of them was probably quite elated to score the highest grade in a subject that she has been least confident of, and for which I tutored her. Another scored almost perfect score if not for the harder "extra" paper she took. I was glad enough that she did well for her core subjects, but she doesn't seem to feel the same. That I can understand, having been brought up in the same academic climate. Another didn't get top scores, and is wondering if she could even get into university. It was the first time she called me on the phone, and she didn't sound too excited. I offered my help at advising on university options and all.

In retrospect, that faithful day was for me only one important hurdle and frustration out of the many that came later. The end-result was only good for getting my foot into the next door. In the years that followed, like many of my peers, our outlooks became more nuanced and less one-sided. I wished we would realize earlier that grades aren't everything, and that accomplishments and fulfillment aren't measured by tangible metrics or constrained by whatever our social conditioning like us to believe.

I'm setting off for another trip soon. I need the break from urban crowds.

She thanked me hours after the fact, as if as an afterthought. It doesn't feel like it would end here.