Inconspicuous Rantings

Exams

Yes, it's that dreaded word that instilled fear into most students. Exams.

I remember my first ever exam when I entered high school. I was only 13. I had 6 exams and most of them were worth 80-100% of the subject. I came from an environment where they used the word "test" so "exams" was a huge psychological change for me.

Anyway on the night before my first exam (Mathematics), I went through all the revision notes, pointers and the formulaes. I even went through the entire text book just to make sure. My mum, who was even more "gan cheong" than me, insisted that I had to sleep early. She even fed me with Chicken Essence (Thanks Mum!). Being the obedient (yeah right!) boy that I was, I did that. I spent hours laying there going through what I had learnt.

The next morning, I woke up and guess what? My mind was completely blank! I couldn't recall a single formulae and I panicked! Must have been the chicken essence! Must have been this and must have been that. I didn't have any choice so I gathered my notes and went to the exam venue dreading the worst. As the clock ticked away, I could literally feel my hands going cold and could also feel beads of sweat pouring down my forehead. Gradually I calmed down and as I was sitting there waiting for the exam to start, I closed my eyes and focused. Slowly, it began to come back. Bit by bit.

The moral of the story? Don't panic. I know what it feels like and after taking so many exams, I would probably still feel slightly panicky if I had to take another one. If you go blank, take a deep breath, close your eyes and relax.

Good luck everyone. See you at the end of the tunnel.

I didn't do very well in my first exam but that's another story...

posted by Inconspicuous @ 11:17 PM