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► Coping with Exams
The stress of exams
With the exam period is lurking only a couple of weeks away you just realised you have 15 exams lined up all in the period of 3 weeks and more importantly you want to do well in all of them. So you decide it’s time to revise, you sit down on your desk/bed/floor/ library - laptop on knees - surrounded by a pile of books and notes along with fresh cup of Nescafe Gold - Extra Strong on standby.
Quick Quiz
When you sit down to revise you are most likely to do which of the following?
a. Read and try to memorise as much information as possible with the help of regular intakes of strong espresso to keep you awake and continue on regardless of whether you’re taking much in or not?
b. Read a bit here and there, only the important parts and hope that those will come up in the exam paper. It’s too late to be trying to understand and memorise everything from the beginning.
c. Just have a quick read of all your notes and books to remind yourself of the content; you were paying full attention during lectures and always studied afterwards so you already know most of the content.
Answers
If you chose option c then well done, you have cracked the eternal problem of exam revision, you know how to control stress and you are on the right path of doing very well on your exams. What’s your secret?
However, if you answered a or b then you probably fall in the majority of students who find exam period as one of the most stressful experiences of the whole semester. There isn’t a magic formula for 100% effective revision and there are no foods or drinks you can take that will make your brain retain more information it is physically capable of. However there are a few tips you can follow that can HELP make the most of your revision time.
What NOT to do
1. 
Don’t overload yourself with caffeine. Try to limit your coffee intake to one cup and not very often. Even though coffee can stimulate brain activity for a short period of time when the effects wear off it will make you feel more tired than you did initially. And if you think that drinking more will perk you up again, it won’t. It will make you irritable and unable to concentrate properly.
2. Don’t stay up all night! Your brain can only take a certain amount of information in at a time. After that it will absorb very little if none at all and will quite possibly leave you with a: “I remember reading about this but can’t remember what is was all about” stressful moment. Give your brain time to rest overnight so you can start again from fresh the next day.
What to do:
a. Find an appropriate location to revise. Whether that is your room, the library, a public place, or the park you need to find a place you can concentrate more easily.
b. Do use visual aids such as index cards, post-it notes, coloured pens or anything else that will help you put your thoughts into place and record key points. (this is particularly helpful to people with good visual memory)
c. Do record yourself reading key points or notes and play them to yourself. Then try to repeat them out loud. (This is particularly good for people with good auditory memory.
d. Do walk around your room or take a stroll in the park while mentally reviewing what you have been revising (good for active learners).
| 3 things to remember | 3 things to check out |
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NOTE:
There are lots of websites, magazines, books and articles that offer advice on how to study and revise effectively. Don’t feel that you have to follow them all by letter, they are generic and they don’t apply to everyone’s individual learning preferences. Find what works for you and implement it in your everyday studying.
