Justifications/Excuses

I know this post is way overdue! That's bad because the feeling I had when I wanted to post this is now just a memory. But I'll try! =D

So, according to my reliable (questionable!!) memory, when I came home after taking Paper 2 of the Maths Methods exam, it was all just sighs when I thought about it. It was tough. It was much harder than the first paper, though probably only because of my limited maths skills. I was nervous doing the paper, and it was not smooth and easy so a headache was working its way up. My nerves messed with my collected-ness, so I skipped some questions and had to rush when they announced that it was 10 minutes left on the clock. That was bad. Anyway, all in all, I went home with my head hanging down.

I got my results the day after that exam I think. I got 83% for the first paper, and 66% for the second paper. I know, big difference, and a cringe when looking at the 66%. But I sort of felt relieved. I the first one was good, in my opinion. If I could do the Matrices, which is pretty easy (I learnt it for the Paper 2, but it didn't come out), I would have gotten those 5 marks and 88% is really not bad! As for the 66%, it was.. bearable I guess. So here, I come to the main point of this point (I know you guys are thinking, 'What?! Then what was all this blabber if it's not the main point?').

I think I didn't do too bad! The teacher said it was above average. I, myself, think that it is quite good actually. BECAUSE, I only had about less than two months to learn that whole text book, without going to regular classes, without doing all those exercises I would have done if I had time. Less than two months to understand, remember, and be able to master (haha! Not really, in my case) all of what others had a year to do. I had really less than a month to learn how to use the graphics calculator. That wasn't really hard to learn, but it was still quite bad because I didn't really know if I was right (Hah! What are the chances?). I think for the questions where we had to use the calculator to find the answer, I didn't get right. I just wasn't sure of what I was doing. So, I guess time really was a factor for this MM 1 and 2 exam. Time to prepare for it. BUT, I can't say I utilized the time I had fully, I still had time to watch dramas and things like that.

SO, am I justifying my lousy (not so much so to me) marks, or just finding excuses for myself?