The 4 Stages of Exam Season
Whether you are doing high school, TAFE or UNI, exams are just around the corner. This time of the year and exams on your door step your year is almost over and the long summer holidays are calling you but first you have exams and it is good to having coping skills in place for the long road ahead.
So, we're going to break down the stages of the exam season, and hopefully teach each other a thing or two about how to best prepare for each phase!
Stage 1 - Optimism
This is the phase right at the beginning of the exam season where brilliant results and top of your class success seem reachable and definitely achievable. You smile to yourself thinking about how great it will be to write up a detailed study plan, imagine yourself having a quick nap in the sun with your books (totally well deserved, because you've just read half the textnbook in a day), and entering the exam room feeling calm and quietly confident. You can't even begin to express how proud you are of future you and all the hard work you've done.
Stage 2 - Compromise
Turns out reading is hard, and socialising is fun. You aren't far away from exam period now, but there's still time to get comfortable with the material. You tell yourself you are much happier having fun and 'educating' yourself in the experience of life, anyway (and you know what, this is probably true!). This phase is the time you realise that while top marks might be unattainable, you are probably happier with a mid-range mark and a head full of other, more interesting things.
Stage 3 - Freak Out
Exams are a week away and you've just written up your study plan. You need at least 4 weeks to get the mid range mark you were hoping for. OH GOD OH NO OH GOD. You sit frozen at your desk, looking at books and hoping that the knowledge will somehow transfer itself into your brain. Procrastination is king. And you spend a lot of time jumping from textbook to textbook, subject to subject, trying to comprehend as much as you possibly can, while actually taking in next to nothing.
Stage 4 - Numbness
The exams are upon you. There's no turning back. You've tried, you know you've tried, but you are not the cool calm and collected vision you had imagined 3 months ago. You have a mini tantrum/panic attack before realising that you just have to accept that you are here, that this is what you know, and go into the exam hoping for the best.
On Monday night at 8PM AEST, we are going to talk through these 4 phases, and discuss techniques for practically improving your chance of feeling prepared and ready for an exam, and also what to do if you find yoursel in freak out stage with no where to turn.
SEE Y'ALL THEN!
Thank you all for tonight 🙂 Here is a quick summary of tonight's discussion
We've posted up above that the 4 phases of exam season are: Optimism, Compromise, Freak Out and Numbness. Do you think we missed any phases? What phase would you add in?
- Cramming is another phase which happens after you relax and leave things to last minute
- Study Sessions with friends
- Relief after you finish the exam
Who here can identify with the 1st phase?! What kind of grand goals have you set yourself at the beginning of the exam period?
Many of us related with this phase and we tend to set a mix of realistic and unrealistic goals like:
- Making a study plan like 4 hours a day of study (which is insane)
- Writing down summary notes
- Start studying 2 weeks before and get through so many topics per day
- Actually doing the readings and practice questions
When you're in this phase, what kind of thing could you do (or have you done) to harness your enthusiasm?
- Set more realistic goals and plan your time better.
- Get good sleep
- Eat healthy and exercise
- Write down your motivations to succeed and place them in a visible area
- To Do lists and cross off things you have done
- Reward yourself regularly
- Stop procrastinating (remove everything that can distract you out of site)
- Preparation is key, get all the material together
- Get help from friends and get them to help you stay off Facebook.
What do you think happens that makes you move onto the next phase COMPROMISE? (or, has anyone successfully help onto the optimism phase and followed through with epic exam results?!)
- As exams get closer you start to face reality of studying hard
- We usually justify and bargain with our choices to take a loooong break from studying
- Just because it’s not in your face doesn’t mean it disappeared (exam stress will always be there)
- You want great results but have no motivation.
- Having a lack of pressure from the deadline
- We normally Settle for Average (as danny said)
Does it bother you that you are having to make compromise? What are some of the things that might stress you out about being in this phase?
- Grades that might have a negative impact to the semester grade
- Lying to yourself makes life a lot harder
- Wasting time because of delaying tactics
- Negative thoughts, feeling overwhelmed and pressured.
What are some ways you can calm yourself down when you get really stressed about the amount of work you have to do?
- Writing it down because a list can make you feel like it can be done. YOU CAN DO IT
- Mindfulness meditation
- Getting out of the house
- Venting and exercising
- Having some ME time
- Push through the stress and keep going
- Keeping realistic goals (best & worst outcomes)
- Reward yourself
- Have a good balance between study and social
- Have a list of things that calm you down
- Engage in some laughter and something light hearted.
Do you have any tips for how you can make the last bit of time count?
- Get friends to help
- Go over what you already know
- Balance study with social time
- Get great sleep
- Be in a positive mind set and relax
- Remind yourself that you are doing your best
- Make a time line
Stage 4 - numbness. This is the feeling of walking into an exam room not feeling prepared.
What is a better word to describe it and what are some tips for dealing with day-of exam freak outs?
- Another word could be BLANKNESS or the Oh SH#T moment
- Don’t do any extra study on the day and relax (If you don’t know it by now, you won’t know it)
- Get a goodnight
- Have a great and healthy breakfast
- Stay calm, meditate and do some breathing techniques
- Do not pressure yourself
- Practise positive self talk
- Reach a point of acceptance
- Mindfulness meditation
- Drink some water
Exam season is right around the corner, what 3 things are you going to plan to do to make the most of your optimism, and decrease your stress levels during this time?
- Set realistic goals
- Reward yourself
- Balance your time
- Avoid pressure
- Write a list of things you need to do
- Write a time-line
- Get friends to help
- Sleep and meditate
Check out these factsheets for more information/ tips
A better word for me would be BLANKNESS... that is exactly how I feel like everything I have done has just disappeared.
Best thing I've done has been not doing extra study or doing any kind of work on the day but just relaxing and doing something that makes me happy.
On the day of the exam I like to do mindfulness meditation just before I go in to combat any freak outs. It really helps. One day I was doing one outside the exam room on my ipod and was so engrossed I didn't hear the supervisor calling us in! Whoops! I also like to bring in a bottle of water so I can have a drink if I'm freaking out. I don't know why, but it really does help.
I think blankness is a good word for it Rue.
Exam season is right around the corner, what 3 things are you going to plan to do to make the most of your optimism, and decrease your stress levels during this time?
I've just started my HSC exams, had my first today. But I'm reminding myself of pretty much everything I've said tonight. the major thing is that I'm telling myself this isn't the end of the world. I am doing my best and if I don't get a good mark I can do courses to improve my knowledge latter in life 🙂
I'm basically reminding myself that this little piece of paper does not measure my self-worth or value as a person 🙂
I'm really trying to just keep myself in a positive mind frame 🙂
1. DO some mediation tracks
2. continue to remind myself I'm doing my best
3. DO some revision
Glad to hear that people got some practical reminders from tonight, Don't forget to do the feedback form! https://roforums.wufoo.com/forms/s1ujfb5k1m5voo2/
Thanks everyone for tonight!!!
Thanks for an awesome sesh guys 🙂 Really enjoyed it tonight 🙂
im going to write a list of things i need to study ,
write down a time line
and get my friends to change my facebook password if i look at it too much
i will also try to meditate and get plenty of sleep
Exam season is right around the corner, what 3 things are you going to plan to do to make the most of your optimism, and decrease your stress levels during this time?
I don't have any exams because I'm on placement (winning! :D) but if I was, I would try to set more realistic goals for myself, reward myself for doing study, and make sure that I balance my time to avoid getting too stressed.
@DD: Lucky!
Exam season is right around the corner, what 3 things are you going to plan to do to make the most of your optimism, and decrease your stress levels during this time?
1. Organise all my notes
2. Plan ahead, setting realistic goals. 1 topic per day, 3 weeks out.
3. Keep a balance by continuining to play basketball, cook etc.
Thanks Guys!
- Be realistic
- Dont pressure myself
- Relax - its one exam it wont make the rest of your life
Definitely how many marks I need to pass the course. That stresses me out a lot in this phase and interferes with my concentration a fair bit.
@Dannipurple grade pressure is a good motivator but it can also be stressful especailly if you need high grade to get in to uni or another uni degree
Thank you all for sharing your experiences and tips with us, you all have some smart tactics to stick to studying 🙂
What do you think happens that makes you move onto the next phase COMPROMISE? (or, has anyone successfully help onto the optimism phase and followed through with epic exam results?!)
