[SLOW-MO CHAT] End of Year Exams (it's not the end!)

1. If you have exams coming up, how are you feeling about them? If you don't, how did you feel about them when you used to do them?

I have one exam this semester. I'm feeling pretty indifferent to it at this stage. 

In high school I really hated exams. They were made into such a big thing and it's like the system wanted us to be as stressed about them as we possibly could be.

With uni, while I know a lot of my friends still have the stress about them, aside from my first one I've felt much better doing them to doing other assignments. 

1. If you have exams coming up, how are you feeling about them? If you don't, how did you feel about them when you used to do them?

i have yearly exams coming up next term and im quite confident in them. i actually prefer exams way more to assignments. but when it comes to HSC i will be a big stress head ! 

End of high school exams are the worst @litgym 😞 What's stressing you out about them and your science one?

@Beewhy do you think you prefer other assignments?

oh no @annabethxchase! 😧 Have you been doing anything about that?

@Birdeye I prefer other assignments because I can work on them over a period of time and submit me best overall 🙂 I've always liked the ability to do it in my own time and not be constricted to an hour or so to do everything.

@litgym HSC can be tough yes, sounds like you've got a couple years yet, and that's okay. Is science one of the subjects you enjoy?

3. Do you have any rituals you do before exams?

4. How do you prepare/organise yourself for the end of year exams? Any tips for fellow students?

Sorry I missed Monday guys! Had a bit of a family emergency and spent most of the night at the hospital - everyone's okay though, just a bit banged up and worse for wear.

3. Do you have any rituals you do before exams?

You mean, other than cramming furiously for all the content I should've learned during semester, but didn't? 😛

4. How do you prepare/organize yourself for the end of year exams? Any tips for fellow students?

Ideally, don't cram. (Yes, I know, I'm a hypocrite. Doesn't make me wrong though.) There's been research on different learning strategies (e.g. cramming vs. consistent studying across term), and it's pretty much shown that, while cramming can work in the short term, you forget all of the information you've packed into your head about as quickly you shoved it in. Which means, over the long term, you're actually not learning all that much by cramming, even if it looks like you did okay on your tests. The most reliable way to store information for the long-term is to practice consistently - so do your homework! Go to your classes, lectures, tutorials and engage. Ask questions, even if you think they're dumb, or that it'll be embarrassing, or people might make fun of you. Because however awkward it might be to do that now, it still beats standing in front of your boss and having to admit that you have no idea what you're doing after 6 years of high school and 4 years of uni. Or worse, getting stuck in a situation where there's no one to ask at all. (Trust me, it's happened to me, it was not pretty.)

...that said, if you DO need to cram, because you're a procrastinator like I am, then my advice is to find yourself a quiet spot and turn it into your little personal study bunker. I say "bunker", because this is going to be your fortress of solitude - a place of absolute focus where you're going to remove all possible distractions, so that you'll literally have no choice BUT to study/work on that assignment/get stuff done.

What this usually means, is shutting off the wifi, and throwing away your phone. Really, there shouldn't be anything else in the room other than what is strictly necessary - download all of the lectures or notes you need to review to your laptop or tablet if you have one (make sure to delete all the videos and games you had installed on it - you can always back these up and just reinstall them after exams), grab the textbooks you need to read, some paper to write on and a pen. Maybe some water and biscuits to stay hydrated and keep your energy levels up, but that's IT. Let everyone know that you are not to be disturbed - and even if the house is burning down, that they shouldn't let you know until the fire's gotten to the bunker's door. The goal is to make it so that the one thing you can do to entertain yourself for the entire duration of your time in the study bunker, is study. 

The absence of distractions will help you focus way more than you usually can, and you'll often find yourself studying much more efficiently - though I do warn you, that you CAN burn yourself out studying much faster than usual as well; typically I can keep doing 14-16 hour days in the study bunker with only breaks for food and showers for about a 8-10 days before my mind just goes to mush and I need some time to recover. However you WILL cover a lot of ground relatively quickly, which is the whole idea behind cramming in the first place. I mean, it's best if you don't end up in a spot where you need to cram in the first place. But if you do end up needing to, this should help you to cram more efficiently.

As for how long to spend inside the "study bunker" at a time- I would say this largely depends on you, and how long you find that you can feasibly concentrate for under "bunker conditions". Personally, I tend to go for 3-ish hour stints with 30 minute breaks in between, occasionally going up to as much as 9 hours uninterrupted if I find myself hitting my flow. The bunker is set up to make it as easy for you to focus as possible, so you might find that you can focus for much longer than you would usually estimate - I recommend giving it a shot and trying to find your personal limits and adjusting accordingly.

@Asche That was one long post! I have lots of milk the night before (I don't know why it just helps me calm down!) I use flashcards & I make a key: Basically I colour code each flashcard & If I know it or not e.g. Red for No idea. So I tend to focus more on the ones I have no idea about. I also highlight everything I need to know & make definitions as small as possible (less to remember the better!)

WOAH @Asche such a long but very insightful and wonderfully explained piece of information! 🙂

You are so right that learning things over a period of time rather than cramming does solidify it in your mind for long term use 🙂

@annabethxchaseI love the idea of making a key for your study so you know what to review and know by the colour how well you already know it! Awesome! 🙂

I forgot to come on and post yesterdays question so I am going to post 3 this time 😛

5. How are you going to take care of yourself during the end-of-year study-slog?

6. Thinking back to your previous exams, is there any advice you would give yourself?

7. What the best way to celebrate finishing exams?

5. How are you going to take care of yourself during the end-of-year study-slog?

Use the study bunker, yes, but also take breaks. With the amount of typing I did during my bunker cram-sessions, after my first week, my wrists would literally start hurting from overexertion, and I'm pretty sure that if I didn't take at least an entire day off in between week-long cram sessions, I would've given myself an RSI. Not fun. Also, scoring a 90 is brilliant, but savoring the victory would be so much sweeter if you weren't completely dead on the inside from mental exhaustion.

6. Thinking back to your previous exams, is there any advice you would give yourself?

START EARLIER, YOU GIANT HYPOCRITE.

7. What the best way to celebrate finishing exams?

Sleep. Just. Come home. Take a sip of tea. Crash on the couch. Don't even make it to bed. It's over now. You can rest.

I know I'm sorta late to this chat, but I wanted to answer some of the questions anyways because the final HSC exams are coming up 

okay so:

5. How are you going to take care of yourself during the end-of-year study-slog?

- make sure I get enough sleep (and relax an hour or so before bed)

- drink lots of water

- stay positive

6. Thinking back to your previous exams, is there any advice you would give yourself?

- dont stress too much --> just remember you are trying your best

- start early and don't leave things last minute

7. What the best way to celebrate finishing exams?

- sleeping 

- meeting up with friends

- enjoying summer 🙂

A HUGE thank you to everyone who partook in this weeks GR! It was a last minute shove to a slow-mo so I appreciate those who turned up and shared their input! 🙂 Feel free to add your thoughts at a later date if you wish 🙂

For those of you with upcoming exams, on behalf of all the mods and staff I would like to wish you good luck and hope you do you're very best and get the results you wish ❤️

Remember to look after yourself during exam time!

@Jardin@N1ghtW1ng@litgym@Asche@annabethxchase

@Bee

5. How are you going to take care of yourself during the end-of-year study-slog?

Probably create a study timetable where I will allocate time (no distractions no matter what) 

@Asche My house could burn down but it won't disrupt me

6. Thinking back to your previous exams, is there any advice you would give yourself?

On a recent exam I started studying really early & making a checklist with every possible thing i had to do - it's really satisfying to cross things off! It made me a lot more confident & I had time to do other stuff

7. What the best way to celebrate finishing exams?

Um is this even a question?! I reward myself with good food & a relaxing day so I can de-stress myself!

@Birdeye i’ve just heard that the HSC exams are so stressful and full on, so im definitely not looking forward to those.

i just suck at science so i find it really hard. on my topic test last term for science i got 33%...

@Birdeye Yes I've started learning the first 3 topics but there is 9 & our class has only covered 9! There is just so much information, I tries to do some last night but I was to tired & I couldn't comprehend anything. Hopefully today goes better.

@litgymI'm glad to hear you are confident in your yearly exams! 🙂

HSC is stressful for everyone, which is why we do these chats around exam time and have support threads 🙂

I much prefer assignments! 😛

Thanks @Jess1-RO

Today's Question

2. What exam are you least looking forward to sitting or was your least favourite?

2. What exam are you least looking forward to sitting or was your least favourite?

im least looking forward to my science yearly and when all HSC exams come around 😞

I am least looking forward to my Science Exam - My science teacher is so monotone & I physically can't listen to anything she says so I have no idea what I'm doing and it's next week!

Awesome idea to turn this GR into a slow-mo @Bee! Really looking forward to seeing this slow-mo unfold this week