A few days ago, I watched a short video clip. A girl doing dishes, tired of her task, prays to God for bringing her childhood back to her so that she wouldn’t have to do dishes. To respond her prayer, there comes a voice. It says, “It’s okay. I will send you back to your childhood, but then you would have to study biology, physics, chemistry, civics, mathematics. Are you ready to study them all?” The girl, afraid of the saying, replies immediately, “No God. I just said it mistakenly. I am good with doing dishes.” 🤣
I know the video is relatable to many. Studies and academic years are part of life many people do not appreciate. The scariest portion of studies is examination.
Whether or not we like them, exams are important. It is a method to assess our knowledge and grip on the subject. (Well if exams are really designed to do that. In various settings, they are only a test of your memorization abilities despite the fact that you do not understand anything. Anyways, as the claim is made....) Exams is a display of how well we studied the whole academic session.
Examination time comes up with stress. During stressful times, our body responds to make a flight or fight response. However, we know that in the case of Exam stress flight is not a choice or you must be ready for something special from your parents 😉.
I had never been a dull student. However, I wouldn’t say that I didn’t feel stressed for Exams. In fact, I used to experience lack of appetite and sleep during Exams.
There is a distinction between the kind of education I have had at university and school/college (I am not sure if such differences exist at other countries).
The curriculum for school and college is based more on memorization than that of necessarily understanding concepts. Also, past papers are also available to give an idea of what kind of question may be asked.
In university, the choice of books and design of paper varies from teacher to teacher. Also, (as per my experience) memorization is something that doesn’t work. A clarity in concepts is crucial to succeed with flying colours.
Despite having these differences, I always worked hard to understand the concepts fully. The difference was that for college and school courses I used to prepare detailed notes while for university courses I used highlighters to highlight important content. Also I jotted down important points either in notebook or as a side note in the book, depending on the subject matter.
Specifically talking about tips for good preparation for exam, I would like to say that starting up early is the key. It is not possible to read, understand and memorise all the information in a few days. When the academic session starts, start preparing the topics that are taught.
It is easier to grasp a topic freshly taught in the class. When you read it, some parts of it just reach to your memory because it is gone through twice already. Revision and repetition would make it more accessible to your memory.
When I prepared detailed notes (during school and college time) after thoroughly reading books, more than half of the notes were already memorised. It did not take me much time to learn them.
Also, I always took the class tests seriously. The preparation done during class tests facilitates the preparation for final exam.
The gaps during exams are for revision only. It happens that after exam of one subject, there is a gap of one or a couple of days. I think that gap is for revising what you have already learnt. It us only for refreshing the memory.
If we try to learn something new during that break, it takes a lot of time. We are not left with enough time for complete revision. Consequently, something that could easily be brought to the surface of memory is buried.
So, the tip is if you still want to learn something new during that time, first revise all the already learnt stuff. Then move on to the unlearned. At the entire end.
When preparing for exam be aware of the time when your brain is optimized. In my case, it was always the morning when I could study for hours without losing my focus.
For other people, night time is the best. The point is to be conscious of your capacity and utilise it accordingly.
Taking short breaks during study helps regaining the pace and focus. Continuously being involved in anything increases the pace up till certain level. Then it starts dropping.
It is important to get short breaks after studying some topics. It depends on the subject matter and your interest that how many topics you can study in one go.
It varies from person to person and one should be able to read the signs when one’s body starts exhausting.
You can have a walk, a nap, some snaking or chat etc. during that break.
While preparing for an upcoming paper, do not deprive body of essential needs. Take enough amount of water. Have meals on time. Take some of your favourite fruits too.
The most important to mention (as many of us make the mistake) is that there should be enough sleep to make your body and mind work at their optimum capacity.
In conclusion, exam preparation is not a story of a few days. It is about the whole academic session. The preparation should be begun as early as possible. The gap between two papers should be utilized for revision. Small breaks should be taken during study hours. Last but not the least, the body shouldn’t be deprived of its essential needs.
This is my participation for Hive Learners featured contest.