I keep failing exams
I’m 23 years old. I’m still in college. I should‘ve graduated nearly 2 years ago but shit happened. I couldn’t sleep well the first year. I slept in the living room where my schizophrenic mom either watched TV at high volume from 7pm till 4am every day… which kept me up and I had less time to study the next day every single day. My dad had had cancer for more than 4 years up until that point. He was vulnerable to other illnesses so he definitely couldn’t sleep with my mom who was extremely unhygenic. She demanded that she sleep in my room. Our apartment has 2 rooms. I agreed so that meant I had to sleep in the living room. The problem started when my mom ALSO demanding that she either watched TV with the volume up high OR scream on speakerphone whilst chatting with her friends from 7pm till 4am EVERYDAY. She couldn‘t be reasoned with and if one tried, she would get aggressive. That started to have an effect on my studies as I would have less time to revise. Then it got worse when COVID situation got bad enough that online classes had to be held again. I struggled even more without the right equipment.
I passed half of the subjects. I chose to move onto the second year to finish college ASAP. Unfortunately, my dad passed away from pneumonia whilst he was at the hospital being observed for his cancer which got worse all of a sudden. A month-long funeral was in place. This distracted me even more from passing one retake which was only a few months away. I failed it again. 2nd year was a LOT harder. I slept much better this year. I spent more time studying and slept MUCH better but I also spent a lot of time on errands as my dad was no longer here. To make matters worse, halfway through the year, my maid left the country as she was seriously ill. My mom was and still is EXTREMELY incompetent as a person. She can’t do a lot of basic stuff like withdraw money from the ATM so a lot of burden fell onto me when I was already struggling to pass school without any responsibilities. I failed all of the second year subjects but passed 1/4 of the first year subjects.
I chose to repeat my second year hoping to perform better but alas, I passed only one subject. I couldn’t take it anymore so I chose to move onto my final year. Eventually we hired a new maid so I could focus solely on my studies again though I had to travel 3 times for one month each overseas for some important documents.
Crazy thing was how easy the final year subjects were compared to the first 2. I didn’t spend nearly as much time as I had for the previous 2 years. I passed all except one on first try. I passed the other one eventually.
I’m now in my 5th year. I’m allowed to study for only one more year. I’m not eligible for honours degree but I’m fine with a regular one. I have passed a total of 8 subjects out of 12. I only need to pass 10 subjects to graduate. So far, I’ve taken 2 subjects and am going to take one more next week. I have a strong feeling that I’ve passed at max half a subject. I might pass the next one as well.
That means I will have completed 9.5 courses instead of at least 10. When the time for the next retake results comes, it will be January 2027 when I’m close to being 24. The retakes will take place in Oct/Nov 2026.
And to think that after graduating, I might choose to become a CPA??
I’m so frustrated and stressed out…
Posted May 12, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC