By Mary Eby
As much as many of us would care to not admit it, exam time is upon us and for many students that means, stress and crunch time. But, with these tips, hopefully this time of the season can run a bit smoother.
One of the hardest aspects of exam preparing to get down is good time management. Many teachers teach their lessons right up until a few days before exams, which means students have to juggle a full homework load with studying for exams topping off that already heaping pile of work. Students grapple for a way to handle it all while also being able to come out of it without too many sleepless nights and with good grades as well.
The most important thing to remember with exams around the corner is that a tired brain is a worthless brain. Working late or working for extensive hours at a time does nothing for grades. Instead, it only leaves a person more frustrated and tired than ever. While sometimes long nights and extra studying are necessary for the grades that students want to achieve, even a small nap or a 15 minute break can do wonders for someone’s mental space. There is a happy medium between not pushing yourself enough to do well and pushing yourself so hard that you don’t do well and that is what needs to be found.
The second thing to remember is that studying takes time. Cramming information from an entire semester into your brain in one day will not work for most people. Take a little bit of time each day, even if it did only 10 minutes, it will help. A large amount of teachers also allow a notecard or a piece of paper on a test which can also have certain study tips embedded. Many people think of those notecards and papers as cheat sheets for the test when they are actually really good study tools as well. Sitting down for an hour reviewing content to determine what is best to put on your “cheat sheet” can actually turn into studying. Going over that content thoroughly to figure out what you don’t know and then and then writing down everything you don’t know on your paper for the test can usually end up being embedded in your head by the end, making you ready for the test when you don’t even realize it.
Sometimes the juggle of homework and exam studying is too much and even with tools to help you, there is just not enough time for it all. In this case, the best thing that can be done is to prioritize. The easiest and clearest form of prioritizing is seeing when each exam is. If classes A, B, and C have exams on Tuesday and classes E, F, and G are on Wednesday then it is probably a good idea to study for the Tuesday exams first. But, if for instance, you find class B to be significantly easier than class E and in class B both quarter grades were really high, then possibly you should prioritize the harder class over the easier one.
Exams are stressful and present a tough time for everyone. But, the best thing that can be done is to take a deep breath and try your best. Even when your best is not what you want it to be, at least the knowledge is there that you gave it your all and that is most important.
Southview Catalyst 