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Portia_RO
Star contributor

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

 

If you're like me, exams might make you a little nervous. Even though you can see them coming, it can be hard to escape the stress that comes with writing an assignment or studying for finals. With that being said, it's not impossible to manage this stress with good preparation, and most importantly, good self-care.

 

Tonight, we'll hear from Matthew, a first-year Commerce and Economics student who knows a thing or two about battling through exams and keeping his cool while doing so.

 

Here's what he has to say!

"My name is Matthew, I’m 19 studying Commerce and Economics at uni. My career aspirations are in financial services, primarily that of banking and corporate advisory. In my spare time I like to listen to podcasts, solve puzzles, cook and catch up with friends and family. Fortunately, I am passionate about finance and economics, from understanding policy to trends - I love learning what is shaping the world around us. Other passions of mine are advocating for a dual monitor set-up (if it is possible I highly recommend it!), participating in competitions at university and Sudokus’. I’m a brother to two sisters and two brothers, three of which are my precious puppies, Jazz, Archie and Eddie."

 

Archie on the left, Jazz on the rightArchie on the left, Jazz on the rightAnd this is Eddie, our newest additionAnd this is Eddie, our newest addition

 

 

 

How do you prepare for exams?

 

"I think that the cornerstone for doing well in any exam is fully engaging with the content throughout the duration of the semester or term. If this is done then preparing for exams will be far easier.

 

In terms of specific methods, I generally find revising content provided by my teachers being the first step in preparation. This includes summarising the content and putting it into my own words to fully understand the ideas being taught. Generally, this is then followed by practicing with problems that are similar to the exam. This practice can create a feed-back loop, informing which ideas I need to revisit and which topics I might need to discuss with my teacher for more help."

 

Studying College Life GIF

What do you do to avoid procrastinating?

 

"I have three primary methods of avoiding procrastination:

  1. Setting clear goals that are specific and measurable - by having a clear goal which personally means something to you, you can keep yourself accountable and stop procrastination. When motivation falters, remind yourself of the bigger picture and how the work you are currently doing is allowing that goal to be completed.
  2. Creating a habit of no procrastination - one of the primary causes of my procrastination is habit. For instance, we generally pick up our phones, check our messages, look on social media and then hopelessly try to get back to work. To avoid this I generally try to create habits which outweigh this tendency. For instance, I put my phone aside, put on music which I generally study to and don’t stop until either I am satisfied with the work that needs to be done or the allocated time to study has finished. I find that having a similar style of music when studying can activate the habit of working and stop procrastinating
  3. Take away stimuli - putting my phone aside, closing down tabs which may distract me, and solely focusing on the work generally helps me avoid procrastinating."

 

 

procrastination GIF

Procrastination can be HARD. When I was in high school, and even at the start of my uni degree, I used to sit in front of a blank page for hours...just staring at it. Sometimes, I was so scared of failing that I didn't even write a word until it was the night before the exam or my assignment due date. Eventually I realised that writing something terrible was better than writing nothing at all, so I would set myself a 10 minute timer and just write down everything I knew. Most of the time, after that 10 minutes, I felt pretty good - usually, it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be, and jumping over the first hurdle of writing SOMETHING often gave me the confidence to keep rolling. 

 

Please Help Work In Progress GIF by Curious Pavel

How do you manage exam stress or performance anxiety?

 

"I generally manage exam stress by doing as much work as possible to ensure that my goals are met by the time an exam rolls around. This isn’t particularly useful sometimes as having the time, motivation or willpower to study until a point of confidence is quite rare. 

 

The other way I manage exam stress is through having rituals before exams. If that is cleaning my desk space, listening to specific music or having a good meal beforehand. Each of these things can take your mind off of the exam and stop the nerves."

 

What keeps you motivated when you're fatigued during exam season?

 

"Goals.

 

Working towards a goal provides me with a large amount of motivation. I generally like to set thematic goals (based on time intervals, direction, etc) using an adapted SMART template. For those of you haven't heard of SMART goals before, here's what the acronym stands for - 

 

Specific - what exactly do I want to achieve?

Measurable - how will I know when I've met this goal? 

Achievable - is this goal something that I can achieve in my current position?

Realistic - do I have the time and capacity to achieve this goal?

Time-sensitive - when do I need to have this goal achieved by?

 

An example may be:

 

Short term goal:

By the end of the term achieve a mark of X.

 

Long-term goal:

Complete degree with mark of X.

 

These individual goals are meaningless unless something I desire or feel strongly about comes with the goal. For instance, high marks may lead to opportunities working in academia, which is a field I'm interested in, or lead to opportunities to further education such as scholarships, higher likelihood of acceptance, etc.

 

Beyond these opportunities which are generated by a goal, I also find it useful to tie goals to improving myself. For instance, achieving an average mark of X may provide me with self-confidence, it may be a means of showing that I am capable of a certain skill or have the capacity to learn more about a given concept. For me, these things are desirable and having the opportunity to verify or learn these various notions generates motivation."

What do you do to celebrate when you get an exam result you’re happy with?

 

"When I do well in an exam I generally like to reward myself by taking time off and spending time with friends and family."

 

What do you do when you get an exam result you’re not happy with?

 

"When I don’t get an exam result I am happy with, generally I am quite disappointed (who isn't?). However, I use these opportunities to grow and progress. I’ve learned that failure plus reflection leads to progress, and that if I work on the areas I got wrong in one exam, chances are that I'm probably not going to make the same mistake in the future."

 

You Got This Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

What advice would you give to people who are working towards exams right now?

 

  1. "Try to establish a habit and personal culture of learning and progress. Once you have established a habit of seeking to understand and learn more, exam results generally follow quickly
  2. Establish goals that really resonate with you personally
  3. Trust in what you know. Cramming for exams has not necessarily worked well for me in the past and I find that the time invested in being prepared more than compensates for the stress endured of having to cram on the exam day!"

LOVE this! Trust yourself - you know more than you think, so even though you might feel anxious or stressed, know that that's just a normal part of the exam process and that you can crush it even if you're feeling nervous. Like Matthew said earlier, music really helps me with exams. Instead of talking to friends (who would usually just freak me out and make me second guess myself) I would always put on a good pump up tune and get myself psyched up. Anxiety can work in your favour during exams - if it's at the right level, it can make you feel motivated and pumped up, so get your best exam tunes blasting!