PARK SO EUN:

"Err, Sir? May I know how I went?" You attack head on.

May as well get this over and done with. I'm going to face it anyway.

"Hmmm, well there's always room for improvement-" You grimace at this, "This was the exam that all current third years had to sit earlier on."

WHAT? THESE EXAMS HAD THINGS THAT WE SHOULD BE LEARNING THIS YEAR!

He observes your puzzlement and slightly tilts his head. "Do you have something to say So Eun?"

Note to self: SERIOUSLY WORK ON POKER FACE!

"Umm- well- it's just. Theexamwasreallyhardlikesomethingthatoneshouldbelearningthisyear." You fire all at once.

The Headmaster raises an eyebrow questioningly. "Do you mind repeating that s-l-o-w-l-y?"

"Maybe it's because of my level of intelligence, or lack thereof, but that exam was extremely hard to complete considering the complexity of the questions and the time limit. In addition to this, the questions on the exam weren't ones that you should expect 2nd years to know." You defend yourself.

You look at Mr Wu's face and expect him to laugh at you but he just nods.

Does that mean he agrees?

"Yes, I know that. The exams are meant to be like that. They've been designed to test our students. I'm glad you feel that way-"

Well I'm not glad whatsoever. Hmph.

"The exam was put together by the Heads of each Faculty in order for us to keep track of the progress of our students and judge potential new students. It also-"

OMG! THIS IS LIKE A SPARTAN WAY OF TEACHING AND MONITORING STUDENTS. Woolim High had exams as well but they weren't THIS ridiculously hard! I mean sure, a few questions were pretty difficult but not the majority of the fricking exam!

"Helps us rank our students and continues to motivate them to do better. Ranking also determines a students' place within the school."

Excuse me?

"Ranking can determine a students' place?" You repeat.

"Yes. SM Academy and it's students attain a high calibre due to this system."

"How?"

"Well for instance, the top students will be placed in one class whilst the next group of achievers will be put in another and so on."

Are you serious? You made this sound... unique. Woolim High has this as well!

"I'm sure you're probably thinking that you're previous school had this system as well-"

You sure are right about this.

"But at SM Academy it is completely different. Most of our students come from well off families so to discourage the perception of thinking 'I don't need to work hard' we have a blatant ranking system."

I've heard that only rich kids and brats, in some cases, come here.

"So in doing these exams we find the best of the best students and put them in the 'Gold' class. The next group being the 'Silver' class and the final one being the 'Bronze class'-"

Gold, Silver and Bronze? Is this the Olympics or something? Kekeke-

You suddenly gasp.

OMG! IT MAKES SENSE! Is that why the boys had 'Gold' buttons?! And I have a-

You look down at your blazer buttons and see that they are Bronze.

"Yes, you have Bronze buttons. For now." Mr Wu confirms.

This is so... degrading! It makes students who have Bronze buttons feel like they're only third best! But in this case last.

"To be honest, most of the students don't mind this system."

You look up at Headmaster Wu and try to hold in your rebuttal.

Think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Rainbows, butterflies, sunshine and lollipops.

You try to maintain a poker face and can feel your eyes twitch.

"Is there something you'd like to add So Eun?" Mr Wu humorously smiles.

"I'm sorry Headmaster Wu, but I really don't think this ranking system is...nice? It sounds so ruthless and encourages self deprecation! I mean sure, the use of grades to determine what class you're put in is fine but to the extent of blazer buttons?! I think that might be too excessive." You let out the steam you've been attempting to hold in.

He looks at you amusedly, "Yes, but our students aren't like that. The ones who aren't in the Gold class try extremely hard to earn a place in it which in turn encourages the current Gold class to try even harder to uphold their current position. Students in the Bronze class also strive to improve in their grades as well."

It sounds more like bait for students to work their butts off and the school to benefit from their endeavours. But if it works... I guess anything goes.

"Okay." You give up.

"In a sense, all the students have won or achieved something because they've been given medals so their efforts do not go unrewarded." Mr Wu enlightens you.

Hmph. No wonder they use Gold, Silver and Bronze. They really do correlate to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place medals.

"So how'd I go?" You change topics.
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