An exciting day for 26,560 final exam candidates in Brabant. Can the flag be taken out or not? The tension between 15-year-old Storm and his mother was intense on Thursday afternoon. “If I don’t pass Dutch, I’ll fail anyway.” And then that familiar bell rings… and Storm falls silent for seconds.
Storm Breeman from Veldhoven attended the Christiaan Huygens College in Eindhoven for four years. Last weeks he took his final exams for pre-vocational secondary education. On Thursday, like more than 185,000 Dutch people, he received the results.
Tension is rising
“I’m nervous,” says Storm, looking at his phone. “That is mainly due to Dutch. I have a six average for that, so I have to get at least a four. Otherwise I would have failed anyway. I have dyslexia, so there is some tension there.”
“I have a lot of stimuli up here,” says Storm, pointing to his stomach. “And in my head I have all kinds of scenarios about whether it has been successful or not and how things will continue.”
First year of school was difficult
Someone who is even more nervous is mother Francis. “Is the phone full? Is the sound on?” she asks several times. “It’s not going well, I’ve been so excited all day. I feel jitters everywhere. I know he has done his best, but Dutch remains exciting.”
School years were not always easy for Storm. “I wore different clothes than others and was bullied a lot because of it.” This caused grades to decline, especially in the first year of high school. “But I started to ignore it and then school work went smoothly again.”
Passed or not?
And then the phone rings, the mentor calls. “Storm, are you sitting?” she says, as if the tension is not already great enough. “You’re sleepy.” And then he falls silent… “Are you happy?” With a big smile, Storm says he is very happy. Mother Francis has tears rolling down her cheeks. “Good job, buddy.”
The 0.0 champagne is uncorked, the graduation cakes are brought out and the bag with books is hung outside. “The tension is immediately gone, it doesn’t matter anymore.” There is one book not hanging on the bag, and that is Dutch. “That was a stupid subject and that’s why that book is going to be set on fire in a few days. We’re going to burn it, be done with it and get rid of it.”
Storm is happy that everything is over. “Now I can take a little rest before moving on to the next thing.” The newly graduated now wants to train as a chef and sees herself working as a chef in a restaurant later. “It now feels like I can do a lot more and I have to worry less.”
