Andreea Răducan Hits the Books

.

The reigning [beam and floor] world champion will take her high school graduation exams, the baccalaureate, between June 24th and July 5th. The junior gymnasts who train at Deva will also have to take an exam to graduate middle school.

After her return from the World Cup event held in Brno, Czech Republic, Andreea Răducan -Romania’s best gymnast- has been hitting the books. She will take her high school graduation exams starting on June 24th. The multiple world champion has been studying 2-3 hours every day. “After the morning training session, I go to my room, or if the weather’s nice, I stay in the courtyard of my high school and study for each subject,” she told Gazeta Sporturilor. Andreea will take a spoken test in Romanian and English, and written exams in Romanian, math, biology, along with a practical (applied) test in physical education. She will take the exams along with her classmates. “I feel very well prepared for the Romanian spoken and written exams and for the biology exam. I wish I could draw a topic like (the novel) Morometii by Marin Preda or Lăpusneanu (well known theater play).” The always talkative Raducan is not worried about the spoken exam in Romanian. “Once I start talking, I’m sure I won’t stop too easily. The important thing is to also get a subject I’m comfortable with [in the spoken exams, students randomly draw the topics they will talk about. Possible subjects include almost any text covered during the 4 years they’ve been in high school.]

Stressed out about math

As far as biology is concerned, Andreea says it’s been one of her favorite subjects and she thinks she won’t have any problems. Her daily schedule includes private tutoring. Teachers from the [Deva] high school come to the dorms every day and carefully test her every day before the exam. “Right now, I was just preparing for the English exam. It’s a subject I like a lot, especially when I get the opportunity to write or talk [to someone],” added Andreea.
Her most stressful exam will be math. While she did reasonably well on her last final, Răducan hopes to keep calm during the baccalaureate exam, as well. “when I took the final exam, it was just me and my teacher. I hope that once I get the blank sheet of white paper [where students write the solutions to the problems. No multiple choice for them!], I won’t lose my mind, or go blank,” said Andreea.
By far the easiest test should be the one in PE. Asked about the routines she will perform, Andreea answered good humouredly “I have no idea! I’ll probably go inside the gym, get up on the beam and everything will be OK.”

Back to Articles Page