An Important Exam I Failed

In Spanish Education System, we spent four years in compulsory secondary school. After that, we have two (optional) years more at secondary school to prepare our university entry exams: we call them "exámenes de Selectividad". Your university access mark is calculated from both your average in the last secondary school years and from your marks in Selectividad.

I was 18 years old. I had the better average anyone can have in secondary school when I did my Selectividad exam. I had been selected as the better student in my high school. Supposedly, I was prepared to pass any exam I was going to do.

I had to do 8 exams in 3 days. I don't remember which subject I began with. I don't remember what day the mathematics exam was, or even if it was the first exam of the day. I only know that I felt very comfortable with most of the exams appart from the Spanish language and English ones. I'm very self-tough.

We did the exams in the Complutense University of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid). There were thousands of students there: all the students who had passed the last two year at every secondary school in Alcalá de Henares were there. 

I had selected my options before I knew the Selectividad marks. I wanted to study (in this order): Medicine, Physiotherapy or Engineering. 

I passed all my exams. In the English exam I got a low mark but I passed it. In the Spanish language one I got 10/10!! But in Mathematics... I really failed: I got 0/10. It changed to 4/10 after I made a formal appeal. Anyway, I couldn't study neither Medicine or Physiotherapy. 

Finally, after 6 years at the Technical University I became a Computer Engineer. However, nowadays I work as a Mathematics teacher in secondary school and I try to prepare my students well for their university entry exams.

Destiny or coincidence?? Who knows. I only hope my students will get entry to the degree they want.


PS: You could find more vocabulary about Education and other topics (and its pronuntiation) here. 



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