Everything looks great in Retrospection.

The bright yellow-lit mosaic hallways of the early 2010s, bombarded with colourful soft boards on either side, would suddenly be crowded around 1:15 PM . A posse of school students bearing an unusually eclectic mix of expressions would walk out of each classroom, into a hall which, until then, was ruled by a neatly arranged collection of bags. There would be a slight ease in the air, contrary to the intense swelling of voices surging suddenly from the crowd. A few people would hold a sheaf of sheets against their faces and argue about the answers written. A few others would smugly pick up their bags and walk across the hallway saying, “Full,” later earning a few envious looks from sections of the restless crowd. The rest would be people like me, who'd cross-check each and every answer and almost have an episode of anxiety. I'd put a conservative mark—I was a rather strict self-evaluator—and give myself a good 44.75/50, then heave a sigh of relief. The 0.75 would somehow get me...