I arrived at 13.00 - at 13.15 I went to the exam room & chose my History question - after 15 mins preparation I tried to talk for 15 mins on the subject. Then I had a 20 min break, then chose my Czech Literature question, 20 mins to prepare, then 15 mins to talk. Then a 25 min break, then chose my English question, 20 mins to prepare, and then a 15 min talk. So, finally, after a 15 min break, I went into the examining room & chose 'Africa' for my Geography question!
Immediately, I felt very confident. It's a HUGE topic, and my teacher (Mr Sis, who some SGO students have since told me did his 'praxe' at SGO) encouraged me to say whatever I knew about Africa. My 15 minutes preparation time flew! I filled up an A4 piece of paper with lots of random details about Africa - geography, history, trivia etc.
I came to the table & told Mr Sis & his colleague that I had a bit of a goulash - it wasn't so structured! 'I like a good spicy goulash!' was his encouraging reply, and so I vomited it all out! :-)
It went well, though I was a bit vague on some of the more 'geographical terminology, and my lack of expertise in Czech was always a handicap. The other thing I noticed was that right from the start of the exam, the table started to fill up with all of the teachers from the other subjects, as the final marks panel would meet to decide my (& other students!) fate after this, my final exam! I felt I was playing (more like performing!) to an audience!
It is a great feeling to realise, after over a year of stress, pressure, and hard work, that you are running the final lap of some great race...and that actually, you are going to do it! This is probably how Ussain Bolt feels, running to the line in the 100/200 metres, and being able to look over your shoulder, and to know that you've got this race in the bag! Well, that's how it felt. And I began to get casual...and to talk some rubbish...
I wanted to mention the film 'Out of Africa', but I couldn't remember the name of the film in Czech. So, I asked my examiners if they knew it - they didn't. Then I asked the examining panel & the other teachers - and one of them remembered it (a famous film starring Robert Redford & Meryl Streep) - 'Vzpominky na Afriku'! :-)
And I blathered on... 'In Africa, there are lots of animals. There are lions, rhinos, giraffes, and tigers, and....' 'Tigers? Aren't they in Asia?' said Mr Sis. 'Oh yeah, of course...!'
And...'In Africa there are mosquitoes, which is why I don't want to go to Africa, because they like my blood.'
Well, I got some laughs, at least.
But it was over...
Mr Sis was very kind - I got a 1 (though I thought a 2 might be good)...and the ordeal of the Czech Maturita Exams was over for me!
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