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Feature: No more exam phobia!
“Examinations are a head-ache! My final exams are just around the corner and I haven’t studied a bit! Can you lend me your Chemistry notes of Chapter#3? I forgot to complete them.” “ Hey, the exams are so close, and now you want to complete your lectures at the end of the year?” “Yaar, do you understand this theorem #12? I can’t make head or tail out of it.” Such phrases are common when the ever dreaded exams breathe down our neck. When examination time approaches, we can see many students trying to complete their notes and lectures which they should have done a long time ago.
Many others are trying to cram whatever they can into their brains without even understanding it. There is another breed of students who instead of working hard to excel in studies, are spending their time in making booties, “micros” and pharrays to cheat in the exams! This is the reason why after or during papers, we often come across people talking, “did you see how XYZ was cheating? He had hid some Physics formulas in his socks!” Or “It’s good that ABC was caught cheating! She always used unfair means to pass her exams, and now that she was caught, she was crying!”
The end result is, that many such students face failure when the results are announced. And even if some of them pass due to the so-called cheating strategy, they get poor marks! Thus, embarrassment is what they get in the end, and of course a lot of scolding from their parents too!
Why is this trend so common in our schools and colleges? The reason is simple. All students want to do is pass in their exams. They are only after the grades and the real goal of education is totally ignored. We should realize that examinations does not mean merely getting 33 per cent marks, but to measure our knowledge. There is no need to feel intimidated by exams, or to resort to unfair means if a student follows a simple study routine sincerely throughout the year.
* Make a daily study timetable and list what you will learn on each day of the week. The timetable should include time for completing homework, revision, learning and working on subjects that you are weak in.
* Make sure to revise what you have learnt at least once the same day.
* You should listen to the teacher very carefully, because this helps a lot in understanding. If you have understood what has been taught to you, then learning it becomes very easy.
* Don’t be shy in class, and ask your teacher questions related to the topic being taught, so that in the end you don’t have any problems.
* If any homework or assignment is given to you, complete it the very same day, even if you have to submit it the day after, or even after a week.
* Practising mathematics is very important, because without practising, it is almost impossible to get good marks in it. The same goes for numericals and theorems.
* Make a habit of reading some chapters of a course book daily. This helps you to remember and answer the questions that may be asked during exams.
* Besides the course books, you can also read other informative books that are related to your course. For example, encyclopaedias are a great source of knowledge, and dictionaries help improve our language abilities. Of course, I don’t mean to say that you should learn the whole of Encyclopaedia Britannica or the Oxford English Dictionary by heart, but reading one or two pages whenever you have the time will definitely be of great help to you.
* Apart from reference material, you should also read the newspapers to keep yourself updated. This will improve your vocabulary and will also help you while writing essays and compositions. Remember that reading opens up our minds, plus it is fun.
* For those of you who are “net-junkies”, instead of wasting your time chatting and surfing, you should check out educational websites.
* Those of you whose handwriting is not that flattering, should do at least one page of handwriting practice daily. Some of us think that practising one page of handwriting daily is childish, but in reality it isn’t! Not only does it improve our writing, but also our writing speed.
* At the end of the week, revise whatever you have learnt throughout the week and take your own assessment test. Remember, no cheating!
* One month before the exams, you should start working much harder. You should start paying more attention to the subjects in which you are weak.
All these rules seem a bit tough at first, but if you start following them, you will realize that they are not that difficult. However, besides studying, other activities such as watching television, reading storybooks or magazines, playing games or using the computer is also essential. But that doesn’t mean that you become a couch potato, or a bookworm, or a Net geek! You should give some time to your entertainment also, or else, as they say, “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.”
I hope that those of you who suffer from “exam phobia”, or those who bury their heads in their books at the end of the year, will not face any problems now. By following theses rules, you will definitely pass your exams with flying colours.
Remember that education never takes anything away from us, instead it always gives us something.
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