Cynthia Mwangi

Student Voice – Exams & the Future
Exams are underway for senior students across the country. Māruawai College year 13 student Cynthia Mwangi shares what sitting exams really means, how it shapes life beyond school, and what she thinks could be done differently.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are underway for senior students across the country, and for
many it's more than just a chest it's a stepping
stone for the future. Joining us as Maduwai College senior
students Cynthia Wanghi to share what sitting exams really means,
how it shapes life beyond school, and what she thinks
could be done differently. Good morning, morning, exams underway already

(00:22):
kicked off. What does this time of year feel like
for you and your classmates?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
It's definitely hectic, and I feel like the whole nation
gets to feel relatable.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
You know. They are often seen as a measure of success.
Your year thirteen, this year about to finish high school,
your career path as such has already been laid out
with you twelve exams. Yeah, so what does it mean
doing these year thirteen exams for you? They just sort
of some fun.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
You kind of have to take a box for university entrance. Yeah.
So for UNI you need three subjects with fourteen credits,
and often to get the fourteen you need an exam
for it.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
So you might have got yui and year twelve, but
then you have to come back and collect like we're
pac men and collect the rest of those credits. Some
people might do it before exams, but majority need that
one or two to get there.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Do you think that this all works well, makes sense?
Or is there one or two things about how exams
are currently structured in New Zealand that you would like
to see change. There's been a bit of yap recently
about the NCAA setup.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Do you think it works?

Speaker 1 (01:34):
You were in the thick of it, You've been in
the thick of it for the last couple of years.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
I didn't think it works good. But sometimes I get
scared about a whole digital exam because you can sometimes
get stuck or it won't load.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Yeah, okay, So you think let's go old skill, pin
to paper.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Or make it so it doesn't crash because there's so
many of us on it. Do they crash quite often?

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Often, with like English exams, so many people are doing it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Wow. How do you personally prepare? What do you have
strategies to help you stay focused? Like? What does the
preparation look like in the lead up to that? Are
we three weeks out, month out? Two days out? Are
were cram and study or a cruise?

Speaker 2 (02:19):
I think like a month out I'm definitely going to
the library more often. Yeah, flash cards, yep. Getting a
study partner can be good and bad because you can
tell them what you've learned and teach them as well,
but they can also be distracting. So waiting for good
and bad.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, maybe get a week like kitchen timer and for
twenty minutes you have to you know, study hard and
then five minutes five minute break and you can be
distracted and check. Yeah, that's the beast of both worlds. Right.
Do you think schools put enough emphasis on skills beyond academics,

(02:58):
so say, you know, creativity, resilience, or just practical knowledge.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, I think so. I've definitely been involved with a
lot of stuff and score that like a cupa Haaker
competition and our PBC, So that's like a breakaway from
all the examson internals. And then we have for like
the junior classes, there's like our tech classes like fabrics
and stuff, and I really enjoyed that when I was
in the junior.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, and so that does give across the school year
or years a chance for other people to find out
that oh, I'm not actually real good at this, or
that's not what I'm passionate about.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
But man, this.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
Little pocket of whatever is where I feel creative, I
feel resilient, I feel like, oh this is my thing.
Have you figured out what that next step of your
life is going to look like when you're heading to UNI?

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yes? Yeah, so I'll be studying accounting at a tiger Yeah,
and doing a few science papers with it. Nice.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
What is the what is the big goal the big dream?
At this stage? How you're allowed to pivot and reshuffle
whenever you want. But at this stage, do you have
sort of like a dream career in mind to be
an account down and maybe on the weekend's work in
a pharmacy.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yeah? Girl, Well I'd like to get into like accounting
for like hospitals or medical professionals because my family it's
quite a few. Yeah. Cool, that's cool.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
So you've sort of found your love and passion with numbers,
but also combining that with your love of family or
I let you go and get on with your study.
Do you have any you know, advice or words for
those that are starting to come up through their senior
exam system, whether they are in year nine and ten
or eleven, or you know, just looking ahead because it

(04:45):
can be quite nerve wrecking.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Make sure to breathe because you know you've got this,
and also that like it's three hours, but it's not
going to ask every.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, the do the work, do the prep, and then
just take it all as it comes. She is a
very wise and clever and onto it young lady. Enough
features looking pretty bright with kids like these coming through
the ranks. Thank you so much, Cynthia, wishing you and
all of the students across the country the very best
as you tackle exams and look ahead to the feature