The SSC mindset
Many Students are preparing for the SSC CGL exam. What is the difference between those who cleared and those who failed the exam?
First of all stop worshipping selected candidates, it’s just an exam that they have cleared nothing more than that. This answer is true for all Competitive exams be it JEE, NEET, UPSC etc. Everybody will tell you that those who got selected had completed their syllabus, had attempted numerous mocks, studied from books, pdf, did proper analysis blah blah blah and those who were not selected didn’t do this properly.
Ok this is true to some extent but only to some extent.
Everybody knows the strategy, study from this that teacher, solve previous year questions, attempt mocks and you are done. But but but is this it?
There are approx. 15 lakh candidates appearing for this exam out of those at least 2–3 lakh are serious aspirants. Out of these 2–3 lakh at least 20k-30k are studying at absolutely right path with the near perfect strategy that almost every topper tells in their interview and with pure dedication, they all are capable of getting top ranks then why not each one of them is able to reach their goal again and again? (Its not about less vacancies as I am talking about top ranks - yes 20k to 30k are capable of top ranks)
There are thousands of very very deep factors involved:
Luck: A very big factor, it’s not a 5 match series where you have a chance to make a comeback if you are not able to give your 100% on the D-day. But who cares? You failed, people will come and will felicitate you with a bouquet of failure. You may be talented, you may be prepared but if the luck doesn’t favor you, helplessness is all that’s left.
Handling exam pressure: Again not everyone’s cup of tea. People here are preparing for years just for one day. Do you really expect that they won’t be under pressure on the D-Day? Expectations are too high. Its easy to say learn to handle pressure but it’s way difficult to do in reality. It requires practice.
You know what, when you are not able to solve one question, even one question on exam day that you had solved numerous times in mocks, you are numb, everything starts falling apart, your mind automatically takes you to those fucking failure moments, they were there, sitting, laughing, hoping to come out some day but at a place where you would have never wanted to. You lose again.
Fear of Failure: This fear of failure can destroy everything. Already talked about that in the second point itself. Personal Reasons: I have talked to various aspirants, many are fucked up, their personal messed up life is too difficult to handle with preparation.
Some are aging, they might have the capability of clearing the exam but somewhere in the back of their mind, they are thinking about their age, it’s echoing, they are constantly thinking about their past, some about their carelessness, some about their compulsions, they are not able to overcome. It’s difficult. It will reflect in the real exam.
Some have constant pressure of their family, even if they are young, they have responsibilities on their head, they have to do everything fast. Time is slow unless it is fast. In exam it matters, for a person who is thinking it’s do or die, it really matters, you aren’t relaxed, there a lot of things going in your mind and in exam it matters. A single depressive thought takes you far away from what you deserve.
Some struggle with their health right before the exam be it mental or physical. It’s unfortunate is all I can say but it will be counted as a failure. Surrounding people won’t spare you.
Distractions: Male or female looking for a partner of opposite gender for studies. Oh, sorry seemingly for studies. For a handful it works, for many its the trauma that works after the exam.