The Weird World with Dazzy: The Strangest, Longest and Most Silent Exam

| Maitengwe Post Feature | Inspired by BBC/Hosu Lee
Imagine sitting for an Exam for 13 straight hours.
This is what happens, every November, in South Korea as the skies fall silent with planes grounded, police stopping traffic near exam centers, and late students being escorted to school by sirens.
Even stock markets open late for the extraordinary day, the entire nation revolves around a single, nerve-shredding event, the exams known as the Suneung, South Korea’s national college entrance exam.
A 13-hour academic odyssey exams. Thirteen Hours of Silence
The Suneung, or College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), is South Korea’s most feared and revered academic hurdle. It determines who gets into the nation’s elite universities, which in turn often dictates a student’s future job, income, and even marriage prospects. It’s no exaggeration to say that Suneung day decides lives.
Inside the exam hall, silence is not just expected — it’s sacred. There are no sounds of pens scratching paper, no shuffling of feet, only the faint rustle of Braille sheets and the rhythmic tap of fingers scanning tiny dots.
Students cannot rush. The exam demands absolute focus and physical endurance. Their fingers ache, their shoulders stiffen, their minds must stay sharp as the hours stretch endlessly ahead. Breaks are minimal, meals are skipped or squeezed in between papers. For these students, the day is not just a test of knowledge, it’s a test of willpower and touch.
Outside, a different kind of endurance unfolds. Parents wait for hours, some pacing nervously, others clasping their hands in silent prayer. In temples across the country, mothers light incense and whisper the names of their children. Cafés near schools hand out free coffee to waiting families, while police ensure that the roads stay clear and no noise disturbs the sacred concentration inside.
One mother was once quoted saying, “When my son is inside, I feel like the whole world is holding its breath with him.”
From the outside, it might seem absurd , an entire nation coming to a standstill for an exam, and blind students enduring 13 hours of touch-based testing. But within South Korea’s education-obsessed culture, it’s a mark of national discipline and collective respect.