Examache-Get Good Grades in Exams
Many students suffer ‘examache’. This is the disease which develops when the exams are close and as they come even closer, the disease also intensifies. It may cause a lot of emotional and physical disorders like anxiety, brunt, nail-biting, nervousness, stomach disorder, headaches and more. The fear of failing and its connected fears may cause major problems. A few causes of the fear of the exams and their simple solutions have been suggested in the following lines. These suggestions may help students feeling a bit relaxed before the exams provided the student should take the advice seriously and be determined to follow them.
A good doctor not only diagnoses the disease but she also goes into the depth of the problem in order to find out its major causes. It is important to be realistic about the anxiety of exams. We are generally worried about a suddenly-erupted-problem when we are not ready to face it in advance. Exams are not suddenly erupted because we know in advance, when we have to sit for them; the problem erupts because we are not ready to face them. A good student who has understood his subject or the topic well and they are confident what to write or do, will never face any anxiety. It means that some students are not prepared. Why they are not prepared? Because during the session, they are too busy in social activities, part-time jobs and, honestly speaking, not taking their studies seriously but when the exams are close and their fees, respect and, probably their careers are in jeopardy, they come back to their senses and realize the importance of exams but until that time the water is over the dam and the ‘examache’ starts.
What is the medicine? Simple! Prepare for the exams in advance. When the target is to pass the exam, do everything which is necessary. Reduce your social activities. Life can also be a happy one if we are not spending the whole week somewhere out. This ‘somewhere’ brings its own problems. Give more time to studies, plan it, make your time-table and follow it strictly. Socializing has its charm but have it on weekends. Adjust your part-time income, if possible, in your holidays. Determine to spend a few hours to your studies everyday; do it whether you are in the mood or not. Regular study is the key to success.
Prepare yourself for the exam. From the very first day of the starting of the session, you should be very clear about your latest syllabus, topics that you have to prepare and the instructions given by your teacher. Very clear! Never ever miss your classes; there is no compensation of a class that you miss. Maintain proper notebooks, learn notes-taking skills and at home, write the final answer or exercises in your notebook. If you do not understand some point, ask your teacher the next day. Believe it; the teachers are always helpful to those who seek sincere help. This is trickling methodology. You will absorb drop by drop. You cannot eat the food for a week in one day; you cannot assimilate every thing of your course in a short time.
In many exams, past papers help a lot. You should know about the latest exam pattern very well. Make a habit of reading past paper questions and solving them. When you sit for the exams, you will feel comfortable understanding questions. If you have studied thoroughly, you will have no difficulty in solving any question because, generally, past papers cover most of the aspects of the syllabus. In the humanities subjects like literature and history, never ever rote-learn a topic; understand it. You should know very clearly, how many marks are allocated for each question and, the duration of time in which you must complete each answer. In the beginning of the exam, the student is relaxed and confident, but not managing the time, they are in panic and lose grades easily because in order to complete their paper in a hurry, they make mistakes, lose the quality of hand-writing and lose their concentration.
You are ready for the exam now. You won’t have any ‘examache’ now but the problem is not over yet. Following a few more points will be helpful in getting good grades. Read the questions carefully. It is generally seen in the examiners’ reports that the students do not understand questions properly and start answering them. This happens because either you are over confident or your understanding of the question is weak due to lack of studies. A good strategy is to underline the words and the phrases which form the key words. You are to be sure what you have to answer. Concentrate on these phrases and read them while you are answering the question, because sometimes, students go out of track and without realization, write irrelevant answers.
Never break your answer. In many cases, the main question is divided into parts. For example, a question is divided into a, b and c part. Do all of them one by one. This is a bad practice that you do (a) and (b) part and write a note to the examiner to see (c) part at the end of the answer booklet. On the other hand, some students do not read instructions carefully and attempt questions where they have a choice. For example, the examiner gives you parts (a,b,c,d) and ask you to attempt any two and you solve all of them. It will only waste your time.
In humanities subjects like sociology, history, literature, use good writing techniques. Your purpose is to convey your thoughts; do it in a very clear way. Unnecessary thrust of vocabulary, confused sentences, repetition of the same point, writing without paragraphs and lack of facts, reasons and arguments, all lead to spoiling your grades. In the subjects like mathematics, your answer should follow steps properly.
It is better to leave a few lines blank between two answers. It happens that you finish your answer and start doing the next answer without any blank lines, but you realize soon that you left a very important point in the previous answer. You try to insert that point somewhere in the margins or write a note to the examiner to check that point at the end of the answer booklet. It irritates the examiner. It is also very important to read the instructions given in the question paper. Violating these instructions may cause a major problem in achieving a good grade.
Having this sincere advice in your mind, I assure you that your exam will never be a headache for you; rather it will be an enjoyable experience for you.