Summer is fast approaching, but it has never felt further away. The reason? Exams. They are the final hurdle to clearing yet another academic year, and for many of you, the final obstacle before graduation.
Exams cause many of us collegiettes a lot of undo stress. Guys, they are just tests. Giant ones, in many cases, I’ll give you that, but tests, nonetheless. How does one win at being tested, you ask? By being prepared, of course!
While proper study habits are always the building blocks to a flawless finish to the year, these tips will dot the “i”s and cross the “t”s on your finals experience.
1. Get 6 hours of sleep. At least.
While this might seem like a given, many people decide to cram that one final bit of knowledge. Often, this means that they just end up with extra bags and dark circles the next morning, but it could lead to disastrous consequences. Not getting a full REM cycle before your test will fail you in many ways: 1) you will be lacking the reinforcement and sorting that your recently crammed information so desperately needs. 2) you risk blanking completely during your exam and, god forbid, 3) you over sleep and miss the exam completely. Just sleep, mes amies.
2. Have an exam bag
In this bag which you will bring to all of your exams, include the following, pre-packed and double-checked the night before items: 1) many, MANY neutral coloured pens. 2) a functioning pencil in case your prof is weird or its math 3) white-out 4) a highlighter to highlight important points on your test in the instructions 5) your TCard, and possibly another form of ID 6) Kleenex, because it is allergy season and many of us are suffering through stress induced colds.
3. Bring Water
There is nothing worse than being parched. Plus, cold water is very effective in keeping you awake after a long night, and fresh water can help you think! Even if the last bit is just psychological, it’s effective. It can’t hurt.
As an aside to this water thing, PEE FIRST. There is nothing quite like having a full bladder at the beginning of a 3 hour exam that says, “I’m doomed.”
4. Wear comfortable clothes
While I understand trendy, awesome clothing can give one confidence and this could encourage them to do well on an exam, it will be very hard to write if your skinny jeans are so tight you can’t breathe. There is nothing like your favourite, worn out, possibly lucky t-shirt when you need a boost. Embrace it. You’re already worrying about so much, there is no need to add clothing to the list. ;)
5. Have a game plan
I do this before every exam. If you were lucky enough to have a prof either give you the actual exam questions, a list of possible questions, past exams, or even the format for the exam, make a plan of attack. It will make life that much better for you during the exam. In the first five minutes, find a scrap of paper and decide what you are going to do, write down any important formulas you remember, facts, dates, etc. Just so you have a reference to turn back to in case by hour two you are blanking and clammy. You’ll thank yourself for this foresight.
6. Bring a Watch
It makes no sense to me how every room on this campus is not capable of having a functioning, legible, visible clock. But since it is too late to gripe to admin or UTSU about this, wear a watch. A watch. You know, those things people wore on their wrists, or necks if they’re really hipster, to tell time before everyone just looked at their cellphones? It will be your best friend when budgeting your time.
7. Don’t sit with your friends
The temptation to make eye contact will be too great. Just don’t do it.
8. Stay until the end
So many people leave early, and there are only two reasons to do so: 1) you are absolutely sure you got all the right answers so there is no point in staying or 2) you completely blanked and know you are going to fail so there is no point in prolonging this misery. Both of these are no-nos. Make use of the allotted time by reading over what you have, checking requirements, feeling out your exam booklet covers neatly, etc. Just don’t leave.
9. TURN YOUR RINGER OFF
You do NOT want to be that kid who’s phone goes off in the middle of the exam. Unless you have a really cool ringtone, then maybe you do, but the rest of the room will not thank you for ruining their concentration. Before you sit down, just double check. Better yet, turn it completely off! (If you’re a Blackberry user, I understand why you don’t want to, those things take forever to boot up, but better safe than sorry!)
10. RELAX
Take a few of those deep, soulful breaths you learned in yoga or from your therapist, sit back in your chair, maintain a loose grip on your writing instrument to prevent cramping, and begin. Remember, you’ve got this.
With these things in mind, plus proper studying (!), the actual process of writing your exam should go smoothly.
Then onto summer. Win.