How to overcome exam fear ? What is Emergency Studying ?
It’s the middle of February, and board exams are approaching. Many students are preparing for competitive exams as well, with only a few days or weeks left. This creates panic for students. To help overcome this, I am writing this blog dedicated to those preparing for both board and competitive exams. It explains the concept of emergency studying and offers tips on how to overcome exam fear to achieve the best results.
There are two ways of study : Leisurely studying and emergency studying .
It is preferable to study leisurely, and we will discuss how to do that in detail shortly. However, many of you have faced the reality of emergency studying. This is the type of studying where you stay up all night, trying to cram as much information as possible into your brain.
This becomes increasingly difficult as you progress, as your brain already feels like it’s bursting at the seams. It can feel like cerebrospinal fluid is seeping out of your ears.
At this point, most people realize that the evening is too beautiful to waste on studying. So, you take a walk, exercise, or play a game until you can no longer put off sitting in front of those photocopied notes. With a deep breath, you begin working.
You sail through the first 20-22 pages. Then, you stretch, yawn, and make the fatal mistake of counting the number of pages left: one, two, three, four… thirty, forty…
You call your friends, all of whom are studying from the same notes, asking how many pages they have completed. Twelve, sixteen, twenty; all are acceptable answers. Until one guy hurriedly says, ‘I have finished my second revision.’
Feeling of doom and gloom dawn .
A feeling of doom and gloom sets in. To recover from the depression, you head to the mess downstairs for a cup of tea or coffee. You discuss the sheer futility of exams and life in general with other similarly depressed individuals. Philosophical debates arise as kindred souls exchange views on the universe, God, quantum physics, and other irrelevant topics at that moment.
Finally, after hours, you make your way back to your desk. It’s been three hours since you began studying, and you have only finished twenty pages. Oh God! Oh God!
You update your status on Facebook to: ‘Screwed.’
Some pages later, a brilliant idea strikes you: ‘Why don’t I go through the question papers from the last few years and see what’s been regularly asked?‘ Armed with a marker pen, you start marking your notes. Your previously black-and-white notes are transformed into vivid technicolor with many ‘IMP’ and ‘VVIP’ marks, along with stars and other symbols. You turn to the section with the most color and tell yourself, ‘OK, if I get this topic done, that’s fifteen marks.‘ This topic is on page fifty-six, but once you start reading, it makes little to no sense because you have skipped around twenty to thirty pages in between.
Eventually, you get back to the topic where you left off. It’s been another one to two hours, and you have only completed five more pages.
Then the mind stuff kicks in. The first thoughts are about how stupid and idiotic you feel. ‘How foolish am I? I should have studied from the beginning of the semester. I wouldn’t be in this mess. I am useless! Hopeless! Pathetic. Next time, I won’t make this mistake.’
Next, morbid thoughts invade your mind.
‘Suppose I fail? Dad will kill me; he will cut my pocket money. With less pocket money, how will I gift my girlfriend? How will I take her to restaurants?’
‘She thinks I am cheap? Will she leave me?‘ and so on.
‘No, no! I have to pass.‘ You finish another five pages. Suddenly, some fantasy arrives. Somehow, you make it through the night and manage to get to the exam hall, where you spew half-baked ideas onto the answer sheet. Afterward, you go to the temple to pay for redemption. Every time you need to do emergency studying, you do almost exactly the same thing.
Here are a few tips for emergency studying:
Accept that you are not prepared .
Start as early as possible .
Don’t waste time on point less activity .
As far as possible , study in a well – lit – room that has good ventilation .
Keep all the stuff you need for the exam the next day packed and ready .
Don’t try a new way of studying . stick with what you know for now .
Sit and start to work .
Pray – A quick prayer can help in ways you cannot imagine .
Don’t count the number of pages left , just do your work .
Don’t phone other people : get off facebook .
Don’t bother making a schedule. Your only schedule is to work until you can’t. Then push it a bit more. Sleep and wake up early enough to review whatever you have done before the exam.
Keep all the stuff you need handy : your notes , blank sheets pens , textbooks , whatever .
Keep stuff you don’t need away from you . There is very little chance that you are going to need to .Keep your electronic gadgets away from you .
Keep your phone on silent or DND mode .
Drink enough water to keep yourself hydrated .
Don’t drink coffee or tea or cola .
Eat light and keep some simple munchies around to take care of hunger pangs.
Review what you have done every hour and a half or so to help it settle in your mind. Going through your work with someone else is also a great idea.
Take a fifteen-minute break every two hours. Take a walk or do something you enjoy that can be done quickly.
Your subject can be a ‘do subject’ or ‘read subject.‘ If your subject involves doing, do it. Don’t make the mistake of trying to read a ‘do subject.’
If diagrams are involved ,draw them a few times roughly and more importantly labelled them .
For the objectives types try to learn through making mind maps .
From one day before the exam, don’t attempt to learn anything new or focus on making notes on the topic.
These are the simple methods you can adapt for the emergency studying .