ISSUE IV: Irreversible Decline or just honeymoon?

The transition from Secondary school life to JC life is very different from the transition between Primary school to Sec school or from Sec 2 to Sec 3. Even for me, having already known so many guys from Secondary school (about 1/4 of the total number of people in my entire J1 batch I would say), the social change was radical and awkward at times. After a decade of all boys schooling, the sudden exposure to so many girls was like entering a storm: you get blown away by the gale (pardon the similarity, but there was no intention for any connection between gale and gal)!

The changes were not subtle, in fact they were drastic:
1. Changing in class or at public areas is no longer acceptable or permissible.
2. The concept of lectures and moving around the campus so often is still slowing sinking in.
3. Proper application of spoken vocabulary (and behaviour) would have to be more closely monitored by the brain now.
4. Most people's tests results have declined steeply.

I am sure there are many more changes. Less subtle ones perhaps. The one that most people would be concerned with most should most likely be no. 4: The lackluster performance in academics by almost everyone. This critical subject is what ISSUE IV shall discuss. Insights from all are welcome.

I wonder what is causing this 'slacking' effect? What is the underlying factor for this worrying trend? Does the problem lie with the individual, or the extremely not-healthy general mentality of the students that the first 3 months is a honeymoon period, or a deadly combination of both the aforementioned?

Embarking on a tediously time-consuming investigative quest, one dedicated journalist from Veritas Post sought to seek the answers to this urgent problem. He found out the following from a variety of sources, ranging from typical muggers to heck-carers:
1. The tests were not extremely difficult.
2. The students did not become stupid overnight.
3. The number of failures increased exponentially.
4. The highest mark also dropped.
5. The lowest mark also got lower (as compared to sec 4 standards)
6. The time given to complete the tests were all sufficient except for Chemistry and for some, Maths.

Actually, based on the results of the investigation, we can only assume that either the students did not study, or that everyone just wants to screw up, the latter being extremely unlikely. If the students did not study, then the trend is not too bad because once this slacking episode dies off after the first few months, it would be fine for all. Based on past years, it is very likely that the slackiness fades away after the first three months.

However, what if most people did study, but still screwed up? The perhaps another reason must be formulated, and in this case it would be that the answering techniques must be different for secondary school and JC questions. However, this scenario is not too bad also because once the students get the hang of answering such questions, they would be fine.

However, what if the students were just distracted by members of the opposite sex? Wouldn't it be foolish to have your results and possibly future being screwed by a distraction caused by a crush? This is indeed worrying. Thus the undying advocacy against BGRs by the chief editor of this blog would stand.

To finally form a conclusion to this mind-boggling question, only time can provide the answer. Let's all hope for the best. Enjoy your holidays, people :)