What is your outlook towards the Board exams, barely a month away? Are you confident or unsure? Well-prepared or iffy? Exhausted or energetic? It is probably a bit of all these. At this stage, uncertainties about your level of preparation are as normal as those odd doubts in the tougher lessons. It is fine as long as you are not “terrified.”
There are various ways to quieten those butterflies fluttering in your stomach. Change the way you approach the Board exams, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann ki Baat on January 29. Why not think of exam months as a time of celebration? As pleasure, instead of pressure? Prepare with expectations of joy, he said, as you would a festival!
Prepare well: Stick to a timetable. Learn all the lessons and plan last-minute revision according to the exam dates. While studying, take notes of points for quick reference on the exam day. Make flow-charts of topics/sub-topics/points, draw mind-maps, list major information on charts and display them on the wall. Read them constantly.
Go through Q&As as many times as possible — this helps in matching questions to answers. If you have to memorise something, understand it thoroughly. Find out what every letter of the formula stands for.
Give enough time to each subject. Practise diagrams, tables and graphs. Solve previous years’ exam papers to understand question patterns. Write down formulae/theorems/definitions on flash-cards. Read them as you move around. Do you know how much time you take to write an answer? Find out. Practise proof-reading for spelling and grammar.
Relax: Your preparation is thorough. Great. But sometimes, you could forget a word/phrase/formula as you write the answer. Once outside, it comes rushing back to you because you are free of exam tension. Stay relaxed, tension-free, and you’ll remember what you studied.
Attitude: Always ask — “Will I do better than what I did in the previous exam?” Your competition is with yourself, not others. This is healthy, and it helps you improve without feeling low or depressed. Do not have unreal expectations of yourself. Accept your weak areas and work on them. “Accepting shortcomings opens solutions; expectations put hurdles in the way.”
Avoid television, films, chatting, long phone-calls and online messaging unless absolutely necessary. These will tire your brain. Speak less, allow your brain to spend time with yourself and absorb what you learn.
Stay healthy: We can not say this often enough: Get enough sleep. Stop studying at a particular hour, lie down, allow your mind to relax and ease into sleep gradually. If you are studying all night, your bio-rhythm needs to change to adjust to the exam schedule — you don’t want to fall asleep over the answer-sheet. So, two weeks before exams start, shift to the normal sleeping hours at night and stay awake during the day.
Stay stress-free: This is easy to say, difficult to follow. But it needs to be done. After two-three hours of study, take a five-minute break. Get up, stretch, take a short walk, drink water (big de-stresser), rest your eyes and breathe deeply. Exchange jokes, laugh and talk about happy incidents in school. Energy comes from within — how did Federer pull off that incredible Australian Open victory?
Writing: Read the questions carefully. Have you understood them? Form answers in your mind before putting them on paper. If you are stuck for an answer, move on. After completing the answers you know, return to take a second look. Write without distraction, at an even pace, and try to finish five minutes before the bell. Proofread the answers, label the diagrams and underline the important points. Exam over!
The last lap: D-Day! Reach the exam hall early. It will give you time to check your admit card, supplies like pen, pencil and instrument-box. Talk to friends, listen to discussions. Once inside, settle down and arrange your things on the desk. Take deep breaths, stay calm and composed.
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