Passing through the Iron Gates while building a robot

Post by: Rubi Balami

The Secondary Education Examination (SEE) in Nepal, formerly known as SLC (School Leaving Certificate) Examination is conducted every year by Examination Board of Nepal for students finishing the 10th grade. Students from all over the country must appear at the SEE/SLC examination and pass the test before they can join a college or even consider themselves graduates. This exam is known as the “Iron Gate” because all of us feel that we have to pass it to get to the next stage of our life.

Students registered for the “Iron Gate”

Students go into the exams believing that they need to get good scores in order to have a better life. Especially if they want to study in certain fields like Science, Engineering and Medicine. Thus, the SEE result is a historic moment for a student’s future. I think of the SEE result as the flower that we see after a long gardening for 10-12 years in school. It almost feels like whatever knowledge we gained throughout our lifetime in school is all determined by the SEE result. As such, it is just not an excitement, but also a lot of pressure because success in the exams may create a route toward achieving our aims in life.

While preparing for the SEE Exam, I was also part of a team that built “RukuBot”

This year, I was one of the students who was looking to get through the Iron Gates. While my classmates who were also taking the exams were focused entirely on that exam, I was trying to divide my time between those studies and being part of the robotics project. While I was happy and honored to be a part of the team I had to manage my time between the Robotics training and studies for the SEE examination. Even though it was difficult, being part of the Robotics team was equally important for me.

For a few members of Team RukuBot, we not only had the SEE Exams to worry about, but also how to get ready for FIRST Global Challenge.

During that time, my school teachers were worried about my studies as I was not giving my entire time for studying for the test. My family members were worried too. I was also a little worried about my test scores, but I was dreaming big about the Robotics competition. In that condition, I did my best asking for help from the teachers, classmates and my family members too. However, there was a period before the exam where all of the students who were getting ready to take this exam had to stop all of our Robotics activity and focus on the exam. This was a hard time because the FIRST Global Challenge was so important for me and the team because we were not only representing ourselves, but also representing the whole community and the country of  Nepal among so many different countries in the world. We had heard that over 150 countries would be participating in this competition. This was such a great opportunity for me, but at the same time my study was also very important. Finally, the day of the exam came, and when the exam was over, me and our team members from our school were now fully devoted to the Robotics challenge for three weeks before we left for Washington DC for the real competition. As for my SEE results, I would just have to wait and see how well I was able to balance both.

Making it to FGC was a highlight of my life.

Thanks to hard work and the support I received, I did very well in my exams. It was beyond my expectation because I was worried that not focusing entirely on the test would hurt me. Looking back now, maybe the Robotics project and how it forced me to think in a different way and learn new things helped me to be a better student. I certainly worked a lot, but I also think the time I was able to spend on the Robotics project helped me in obtaining the highest score in the entire school in the SEE exams this year.

My family, my friends, my teachers and I are all happy to cross this major milestone. It is a wonderful relief after a long worrying wait, but my education journey does not end here. I have to ask myself “What Next? What subjects to pursue in higher education and which college to join?” I have always been interested in studying Science, and thanks to the Robotics project,  I am even more determined to pursue the field of Science and Robotics. I am so happy to say that My RukuBot Team Members, Samir and Milan as well as I are all attending Caspian Valley College to study Science Education next.

We are all very thankful for the opportunity we were given by the Rukmini Foundation and FIRST Global. This project proved that if we get an opportunity and support, we can succeed in anything. I feel so lucky to get this opportunity, and I will continue sharing my experience and encourage other students of our village to work hard and pursue their dreams.

Rubi
Team RukuBot Member and Spokesperson