Part of the reason why I have not updated is because I am lazy. More recently I have been busy. With the end of the year approaching I have been writing essays and preparing for my final exams. I am only writing two exams, but they will be very tough.
Fortunately, four years of being a student has prepared me for this and I now have all the skills necessary to excel! Not quite. Four years of being a student has made me a master of procrastination, spotting questions, and being all round cynical about both the effort I am going to put in and the marks I am going to get out of it.
Studying for an exam can be divided in three distinct phases:
In the first phase, I am eager to do well in the exam. I promise myself that I will spend weeks studying for the exams and get top marks. This time is mostly spent playing computer games and studying the first part of the work over and over again, mostly because it's easy!
In the second phase (which I am now moving into), I realise that memorising every last letter in my textbook is not a viable option. I start looking at my class notes and exam breakdown and study only the important sections that I know will be in the exam: unimportant "background" sections are now ignored.
In the final phase (the evening before the exam) I realise that I haven't even read through half of the work. The last few hours are a frenzied reading through of the remaining work. I quickly attempt to memorise (if only partially) those sections which I think (or hope, or guess) will be in the final paper. The most productive studying is often done 15 minutes before the exam starts as I walk to class! During this phase sleep is rare, and what sleep you have is troubled. The stress steals days of your life. You wish you didn't need sleep or could study in the shower.
Point is my bad time management makes exams much more stressful than they need to be. But in the end I do fine. I just wish I could skip forward to the end now! Better updates will be coming soon (as soon as I am done with the exams!).
Much love,
François
(I didn't even proofread this post! I wonder if I can study that section on optimal tax rates before I go to bed... or look at funny pictures on the internet. Bleh!)
Comments (11)
Yes, yes and I will comment on your blogs too. Soon.
Oh, I was so close to getting first!
This looks sort of like my own method of studying for semester exams. I can't draw out my studying for too long; instead I cram it all in at the end, and it always works well enough. Anyway, I know how important these finals are to you, so good luck!
I can relate to this post, my friend!
I am like the Zen master of procrastination.
I study for an exam 15 minutes on my way to school...
just before the exam.
Basically, it is all about "stock knowledge"
If you already know in yourself that you have understood the principles of the topics in the particular exam, then all you need to do is to refresh your memory...
The tip is to study everyday, even for just an hour, and even if you are not supposed to...
The lessons in your subjects will be embedded in your head without you getting all stressed out...
try it.
all you need is a lot of discipline.
good luck!
take care always.
While I experience those phases, I often get them out of order--which leads to crazy unpredictable results. Sometimes I act in phase one on that enthusiasm and then feel so confident that I have studied I do nothing for a while. Realizing it, I move to a make-up frenzy phase three, but then sometimes revert to phase two because the time frame you've described is then the right one.
I'm a mess.
i usually only plan on spending the night or two before an exam studying. keeps me mighty calm.
Argh.
I study just like you.
Yep, that is my study habit down to a T,
as for firefly, it is awesome, I must say it is my favorite sci-fi show.
I would say more, but I stayed up a little to late last night and am not coherent enough
Haha, I had a friend in college who actually did study in the shower, leading to amusing results where his calculus 2 textbook was concerned... I've met some crazy-panicky people in college.
Good Luck on your exams!
my first phase was to study daily, then it was impossible due to my jobscope.
my second phase was to do the same as yours. spot questions potentially coming out for exams, but sooner or later i still have so many to remember.
third phase- today indeed. im having a crash studying...i just woke up from a 6 hour sleep, im still dying for sleep, but i am fighting my body to stay awake and good, endure till the afternoon, rush back home, catch up some sleep and then go for my night work...
today, i am sitting for my exams. i felt all the pressure on me.