Ruby Galvez, RL

Back in the University of the Philippines, it didn't take long for me to realize that most of what I knew about "studying for exams" in high school no longer apply. It was the first big exam after enrollment; the trial of fire. It was when each of the new students could get a feel of who among their compatriots are their competition. Because, to most of the freshmen in that school, everything is a competition.  So, a few days before the exam. I read and re-read the reference and my notes, and recited the material out loud. I took notes while I browsed the books. Everything I did in high school, I applied. But my final score was mediocre. To others, this would have been enough. But I wanted to know what else I can do, and even more badly, I wanted to know why my old study strategies didn't seem to work anymore.

In George Orwell's book '1984', we are transported to a totalitarian state that is uncannily like the very world we are living in. It's a politico-social novel that tells a lot about how power can be a dangerous thing when placed in the hands of a remorseless totalitarian government that punishes with impunity and rewards only those that cooperate.   It's so borderline non-fiction that many libraries have banned it a short time after it has been published. They say it's fear-mongering, but as many of us in the 21st century now know, it was somewhat prophetic.