Presenting the brevet and bac in Lebanon felt like you were going camping for a whole year in the wild which made you feel the need to pack a lot of supplies, except that the exams lasted for 4-5 hours per day and your parents were waiting outside so… yeah, we tend to dramatize everything. Let’s remember what we packed in our ultimate starter pack for Brevet and Bac!

Your Ultimate Brevet and Bac Starter Pack

#1 Zillions of pens, pencils, rulers, erasers…

Your pencil case was like Mary Poppins’ bag: it was regular-sized but contained an infinite amount of objects. You could’ve basically open a stationary store with the school supplies that you owned.  

#2 Scientific Calculator

The scientific calculator, or as French-educated students call it “calculette scientifique”, is THE essential object that you owned. Some used it to hide cheat sheets in it, others to perform basic equations.

#3 Panadol

Parents: “Take 2 tablets of Panadol with you.  Just in case.” On a side note: why don’t Lebanese parents do the commercials for Panadol? They really believe in the product!

#4 Sandwich

It’s basically a sandwich that you never ate.

#5 A little bit of cash to buy a man2ouche or croissant from the cafeteria

That’s why you never ate your sandwich.

#6 The famous “rachetta” (in English: cheat sheet)

For risk-takers, the rachetta was the plan B for when they forget everything. Realistically, the majority of the students never use their rachettas, but having a backup brought them a peace of mind.

#7 And last but not least, your “ekhraj ed” and “bita2a”

You just did your best to hide them so that your friends don’t see your embarrassing head shot. But when they caught a glimpse at it and started to make fun of you… Yes, those days were stressful, but remembering them puts a smile on your face!