Today it is
the 4th of May and the first day of Polish HSC exams. It is the wrong
time of the year my Australian soul cries. But putting my Polish hat on,
switching on Polish TV station and looking through the window at the chestnuts
trees in bloom my Australian persona has disappeared and Polish one took over.
It actually is the right time for HSC in Poland.
My
favourite TV news program, TVN24, starts each week day with a program “You get
up, we inform”. I am not happy with my translation of “Wstajesz i wiesz”, so if
I have any Polish readers please send me better options and I’ll correct the
post.
Today was
my first opportunity to watch the program after a break of some months. And I
was lucky, my favourite journalist Jarek Kuzniar was leading the program today.
I like the guy, he has great sense of humour, and he is able to talk about
serious things in a light way without taking anything away from the merit of
the subject. Even if he expresses his personal views at times, he does it a
balanced way. He seems credible to me and I value that.
The first
thing I heard this morning from him was that the HSC exams have started with a
Polish language test as the first exam. The test took 170 minutes and I hope it
went well for most of the students. HSC is called in Poland - Certificate of Maturity.
Nice name and I wish it was that indeed.
Now, what
chestnuts have to do with it? Polish peculiarity. The time of the year when the
exams take place coincides with chestnuts being in bloom. Everybody knows that
if the chestnut trees are blooming HSC is around the corner.
Isn't it a beautiful tree! |
For some it is
time to start to be nervous. That includes students and their families. Some time
ago I was a part of the family who was going through the maturity exams. Boy,
even I was nervous like a kitten. Part of the fun, I expect.
I wish all
polish abiturients to keep their cool in the coming weeks and achieving great
results allowing choosing future of their own calling.