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Mark on a Test

Not equal to your mark on the world.

By Matt MartinPublished 6 years ago Updated 8 months ago 1 min read
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Exams mean nothing.

I had a friend who wasn't so good at math.

And when they got a test back that didn't go so well,

they would say,

"I'm so dumb."

The first couple of times,

I shrugged it off,

until eventually,

I realized that they actually believed

the lies that poured from their mouth.

So I told them...

No.

You're not dumb.

You're not stupid.

You're not an idiot

for not knowing the Pythagorean Theorem.

You are not worth less than others

because you don't understand

the quadratic equation.

You are not worse than me

because I got a 90

while you got a 60.

The test proves nothing.

It doesn't prove your worth.

It doesn't prove your intelligence.

It proves how good you are at a structured examination

created from a curriculum

devised by a group of old men who still profess

that intelligence can be quantified.

Did you know

that the first IQ test was created

to determine which French kids were doing well in kindergarten.

A man named H.H. Goddard was the one who popularized it,

and led the world to believe that the tests

could quantify intelligence.

Or, more simply put,

Quantify the unquantifiable.

Let me ask you this.

Can you tell me the number associated with the colour green?

How about the smell of roses?

Or the taste of fresh bread?

Exactly.

You cannot quantify them.

So why do people think you can quantify the intelligence of another person?

Why do all of the intricacies of our minds have to boil down to a number?

Why does the mark on a test have to equal my mark on the world?

It doesn't.

It never has.

So stop treating these meaningless tests like they're gospel

and appreciate who you are.

These tests

Mean nothing,

Do nothing,

Be nothing.

Don't let a mark on a test

Dictate your mark on the world.

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About the Creator

Matt Martin

Canadian Playwright, Poet, and Performer.

Let's write our own happy ending.

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