“Studying for an exam doesn’t worry me as much as finding a person who could write my exam does,” says Sanjiya Shrestha, a visually impaired student currently studying her master’s level at Tribhuvan University.
It was four months ago when one of my teachers asked me to take out my time for four days to write the exams for a visually impaired student. It did not take me a second thought to say yes. I was more than ready to do it until I felt a kind of nervousness.
I remember, how she said on the first day of her exam on December 23, 2022, “It’s my exam, but you’re the one who seems more nervous than me.” How could I not be nervous? I, a first-year bachelor’s student, was going to sit for a master’s level second-semester exam. Not only that, I was going to be her voice, her medium of conveying whatever she has studied.
The nervousness
In the beginning, a feeling of anxiety, worry and fear filled up my mind. I didn’t know how I was going to manage my time, reach the exam centre and write exams after I finished college for the day.
“What if I reach the exam hall late and fail to attempt all the questions,” I thought. I was on the verge of changing my mind and saying no until I realised that I was the last hope for her. Something inside me, like a voice from within, wanted me to say yes, and so I did. I said yes because I desperately wanted to help.
During the time of the exam, visually impaired students find themselves worrying more about finding a scribe than studying. As I became aware of all the hassles that a visually impaired student has to go through even just to complete tasks that might seem insignificant to us, I felt compassion and empathy for her.
Not to mention, as they have to spend much of their time and energy not studying, but finding a scribe, their studies get hampered one way or another. All the anxiety, worry and fear that I felt at the beginning vanished from my mind because, by then, the only thing that was present in my mind was the desire to help her.
It was the first day of the exam. On my way to the exam centre, I did feel a kind of nervousness because I was about to write an exam — not mine but someone else’s…
My ability to properly understand a visually impaired student’s sentences, my writing speed, my handwriting and my attention span would either lead to her obtaining high or low marks, so, I was feeling anxious and kind of pressured. Not to mention, excitement was there too as I was finally going to meet her for the first time in person.
The excitement
As I stepped inside the TU central campus premises for the first time, I paused as I looked around attentively in bewilderment at what people were doing. Some people were lying on the ground and sleeping as if they were there to relax while others were studying and mugging up, ignoring the rest of the world.
A few people were dancing, running here and there and a few were eating and shouting. Indeed, it was very fun to observe the surroundings. I was laughing from within, and I noticed all my nervousness fading away, gradually.
After a few minutes, I saw her. I found her sweet, smart and jolly when I first interacted with her on the phone. In real life, I found her no different, rather, I found her more than that, which made my experience of being her scribe for a visually impaired student even better and more memorable.
She was bright, ambitious, simple and inspirational. She held my hand. As she held my hand, I guided her inside the buildings. At that moment, I felt really happy that I said yes and got to provide a little help to her.
The strategy
As we were heading inside the building, we were still unaware of which class we were supposed to be in. The class where visually impaired students take their exam was not decided and it made me feel disappointed.
A few minutes passed. Confused, we stood and waited in the corridor. Not to mention, annoyance and anger towards the system were felt the most as they clearly failed to make things easier for visually impaired students and other differently-abled ones. After a while, we finally knew our class and we headed inside.
I found myself anxious when answer sheets and question papers were distributed. I knew I shouldn’t be anxious and nervous because it could have affected my ability to write well for the visually impaired student. Hence, drinking lukewarm water right before the exam became the medicine for my nervousness, and it actually calmed me down.
I read out every question to her while lining the answer sheets. After finishing the lining, she started telling the answer word by word. In the beginning, I did find it a little difficult to remember every word and write it down well.
But, after a while, I picked up the pace and gradually, it didn’t feel difficult at all. She kept giving answers, and I kept on writing. After three hours of nonstop writing, I could feel numbness along with tingling in my hand because it had been a long time since I had written nonstop for those long hours.
Nevertheless, it didn’t really stop me from writing because I knew I can’t and I shouldn’t stop. After we–I and the visually impaired student whom I began calling Sanjiya didi–attempted all the questions and finished writing. I took a long, deep breath, and I felt really happy that we coordinated and cooperated like we were a team, therefore, we did well.
The happiness
Every one of us, including Sanjiya didi, her friend Abhishek dada and his scribe, Karmendra, who is also my friend, gathered together and Sanjiya didi’s parents, Abhishek dada’s parents also joined us.
We talked and shared our experiences. Sanjiya didi’s and Abhishek dada’s parents took us to a nearby canteen, where we had snacks together. It was a really kind gesture that we never asked for.
Even though we hardly knew each other, we talked, laughed and joked like we had known each other for a very long time. It was indeed a beautiful moment where happiness, love, and laughter filled the air.
The remaining three days of scribing answers of the visually impaired student were similar to the first day. However, the only difference was, on the second day and the rest of the remaining two days, I didn’t feel any kind of nervousness or anxiety at all. Not to mention, the warm tea that we were going to have after finishing the exam became the motivating factor to keep going.
All in all, being a scribe for a visually impaired student for the first time was truly a memorable and unique experience, one that I will keep on reminiscing about. My heart is in absolute contentment knowing that I did something good for someone.
