Editor's note: Each year, students who fail to get high marks in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, or gaokao, feel hopeless about their futures. Some even commit suicide, leaving behind devastated parents. Yet there is still some misunderstanding among students about exactly what the gaokao is supposed to mean to one's life. What advice would you give them? Please join the discussion.

vf84tcat (USA)

What I learned from that experience is it's not how well you do on a test rather how well you respond to problems. I was a US Navy pilot and when a problem would occur late at night in the middle of the ocean your mind can become terrified if you don't keep control of it. The Navy preached: "Work the problem, don’t let the problem work you". That philosophy worked every time it never failed me. I've used it all my life in every difficult situation.

I would advise anyone to drill this into their mind that there is virtually no problem that cannot be defeated as long as you keep control of your mind and fears and calmly "Work the problem, don’t let the problem work you."

Students hold banners saying, "I rule my gaokao with fighting spirit," in a pep rally at Hengshui No 2 Middle School in North China's Hebei province, Feb 26, 2014. [Photo/icpress.cn]

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The original piece: http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1002505