Hey guys, I'm special!

I'm rather surprised that as soon as the results were announced everybody started making up excuses. Is it truly not possible that we actually are satisfied? The notion of students agreeing with school in general or the dreaded perioodõpe in particular, seems so alien that our consciousness simply rejects it. We start searching for actual excuses such as skipping school often or simply having had lunch. The latter is especially dubious as if I am not mistaken, we had this survey during the 7th lesson.

It is rather difficult to make general statements as the data is apparently absent from our fancy new website. Still, I'd like to use this page to make a little statement of my own. I actually am satisfied with the system. If one would take the wonderworld of orkut as an example then everything wrong has something to do with the system. Someone will probably even blame the late arrival of trains to The Hague on perioodõpe. Some teachers enjoy being a pain in one's side regardless of the system. The schedule was messed up in the old days as well. Oh, and what do you know, being absent for long periods of time such as two weeks still messed up your grades, only in all the subjects. Let's no forget that the system is a foreign one and probably devised by a joint committee of Jews, neo-Nazis, communists, Illuminati and the very same aliens who went on a mind-controlling spree in the sixties. Simply put, school is without doubt a little messed up but let's not blame something for everything just because it is new.

That being said, the genuinely nice aspects of balancing a schedule as in having less lessons on the periods leading up to the exams, having intensive studying periods instead of long arduous process consisting of two lessons a week or simply the lovely aspect of not having to attend the not-so-fine lessons every week; are rather enjoyable. Besides, it even feels better when one only has seven weeks to count down instead of more. Even the dreaded idea of having a test every week seems a little less intimidating when taken in perspective. Though the tests will probably be grouped closer together, the material will be as well. This is where the questions comes in, if we take in roughly the same amount of information simply divided on a different timescale, would we rather have the tests on something we learned in the course of last week or enjoy the benefits or having a test on something learned a month ago. Besides, we only have about 8 subjects as opposed to double that number. That naturally means that the number of subjects we can have tests on immediately drops by half. That too is something I cannot object.

The idea of us having a partial perioodõpe and that being the reason behind all our problems is also a little curious of an idea. The only actual part we are apparently missing is the final week as an examination-only week, the idea of which I personally object. Though that will probably be discussed in another post sometime in the future, I'd simply like to point out the obvious. Having a few tests on material studied in the course of a single week in more or less of a continuous stream is a little better. The other option would demand digging up stuff from day one and still remember everything. This is not to mention the extra strain of such a week. Another curious aspect would be the attitude of some. Pointing fingers at a certain someone and a certain post on a light blue website, I'd claim that the opponents of the system are trying to play on both sides of the field at the same time. A person complains about the new system being harsh on absentees and making the last week of the term stressful and then in the very same advocates having all the important tests in the course of a single week. If that's not conflicting then what is? Once more, let's not oppose something just for the hell of it. And if we do, let's try not to contradict ourselves, shall we?

As a final note, let me declare that life would be so much nicer, if we would simply consider the merits of something for its own worth. Just because Anu-demon is promoting it does not mean something to be utterly rotten and bad. Furthermore, don't be afraid to admit that you were wrong. Simply because the original statements were made with limited information (oh, how typical), does not mean that they still have to be defended. I, myself was a vocal critic of this perioodõpe, when it was first mentioned. Now, however, After having experienced it for a year, I am not afraid to stand up and admit that I was wrong in the first place.