With finals this week, I have had to keep a pretty strict schedule on what exactly I spend my time doing. Studying, sleeping, eating, packing, and fitting in the gym are pretty much the only things that are required for me to do but creating a strategy for all that is so beneficial during this busy time. During this year I have kept myself on track by organizing a plan that works for me when it comes to studying.
Ever found yourself cramming in last-minute studying on the night before an exam? I think we all have. During my first semester of college, I would constantly pull all nighters before my communication exams. Do not get me wrong, I did start a few days early for most of my big exams during first semester but I still had a bad habit of pushing the majority of the studying to the day right before. I typically just studied once before a big exam in high school so in college it was only fitting that my study habits would change.
These past few months have been an eye-opener. I have truly realized the importance of studying multiple days before an exam. It seems like an obvious thing to practice but I really did notice the improvement of my test grades when I had time to start studying earlier rather than later on. It always helped me when I could plan out my days before an exam so I could still fit in time to work out and get enough sleep.
Staying organized, of course, aided me since I needed to know which day I had exams coming up so none would take me by surprise. This was super important for me so I knew when I could fit in everything I needed to study and do in that time frame.
Throughout this semester, I would think about the hours that I would need to study for that particular exam and plan how many times I would spend studying accordingly. This helped tremendously as I was no longer waiting until a few days before to really start reviewing the material. Giving myself the time to really understand a topic instead of memorizing is beneficial for recalling it later whether it is to continue studying or to remember during and after the exam.
Also, adding information to that of which I already knew was much easier than trying to put in all in my head at once. That is why schools design the curriculum to add on to the knowledge of students’ in previous grades- learning is growing and expanding your knowledge even more.
Hopefully you guys can take my experience into account for next semester or even the rest of finals!