Exam week can be extreme. Do you know what else can be extreme? Bop It!
If you’re familiar with Hasbro’s hand-eye coordination game that I’m referring to, then let’s battle. If you don’t, then chances are you’re too young to know and you desperately need my advice.
As a senior, I have all of the answers to life’s most difficult questions, like how to survive exam week.
Write it!
The physical act of handwriting information can be helpful, especially for kinesthetic learners.
This is a tip I learned from my most loving teacher — my mom.
During the seven years I was homeschooled, I dreaded writing things repetitively, but I use this tool to this day to remember terms or phrases verbatim.
Doodle it!
If you’re visual, maybe you need to return to your notes and old exams and think creatively.
We all remember diagrams depicting the various layers of rock formations in our high school biology classes. It’s part of how we learned to study, why switch it up just because we’re college students?
Even if you’re not Picasso, research shows that doodling helps improve students’ focus and memory.
Teach it!
Sitting in class and listening to a lecture allows information in one ear, but it doesn’t stop it from leaving out of the other.
Teaching a subject, or portion of a subject, forces you to formulate and verbalize your thoughts.
This is especially helpful when you know an exam is going to include short answer or essay questions.
Honestly, the audience is optional. Face it, you give yourself pep talks in the mirror anyways. Why not keep up the solo productivity?
Rest it!
Don’t forget that your brain needs to take a break every so often.
Cramming before an exam isn’t a trusted method for retaining information long term.
Sometimes studying smarter instead of harder means studying more frequently, with short breaks dispersed throughout your time.
I once had to document my week in 15-minute intervals. It was terrible, but it helped me realize exactly where my time was going.
Truth be told, I don’t have all the answers to life’s many secrets.
However, I can tell you, even during my most trying semester, that exams, classes and grades are not the end all be all of life. Experiences are much more valuable.
Whether the experience is climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro or trekking to Carrboro successfully without gasping for breath, it’s valuable.
Whether your class experience involves an A or an F, it’s still a learning experience.
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