Exams, exams, exams; will it ever end? The sight of coffee cups, tired bags under the eyes and a pile of books a mile high seem to be the university’s new aesthetic. It feels like it’s do or die on a daily basis, but does it have to be this way?
There are plenty of special tricks and know-how to get you through this exam season unscathed. Just be on the lookout for the sleeping bodies that are liable to fall at any moment – it’s a real danger!
An Untimely Nap
Exams are tiring – it’s a simple fact. So catching sleep whenever, or wherever you can, becomes a matter of great importance and danger. One student, hailing from the University of Washington, USA, took his need for sleep to a whole new level. A full class of students got the surprise of a lifetime when this guy tumbled down from behind a projection screen, presumably the darkest, at the time most private and most comfortable space he could find on the whole of the campus.
This guy is a trooper and just walked off like nothing happened. The mortification he must have felt, though, even if he didn’t show it, must be enormous. The second-hand embarrassment alone is enough to make your skin crawl. Let’s hope he does extra well in his exams thanks to the power of that nap!
The Pitfalls of Exams
There are some things that every student gets wrong when it comes to exam season. It can’t be helped, this time of year is stressful and you are bound to get caught up in it all. However, there are some pitfalls to the exam season that are easily avoidable.
Procrastination is an epidemic that affects every student – and even some adults – which needs to be fought at all costs. It is a vicious cycle. You procrastinate whilst slowly watching the time left to your exams dwindle from months to weeks, to days, and eventually to minutes. All the while you simply do nothing. In the last seconds, you are filled with panic, you have done nothing after all, and try to cram a whole year’s worth of knowledge into your head. It might work for some people, but 9 times out of 10 the grade you get will reflect your procrastinating ways.
How do you combat procrastination? It’s simple: don’t put off getting started. Once you start, put the first ink blot on the blank page, you will find it a much easier task to overcome each day. Good management of your revision time is also a great way to get started. Make a plan and make yourself stick to it!
Other pitfalls include poor planning, not reading the questions in your exam correctly, lack of in-depth reading on a subject, sweeping generalisations, regurgitating lecture notes and simple carelessness. They may not seem like a lot on their own, but combine them and you are in for a bad exam season. Time is the remedy to most of these issues, give yourself enough of it and they might simply vanish.
Some Handy Tips
Number one: don’t take a nap behind a projector board. That should be obvious to most people, however. Some other handy tips include:
- Give yourself time to study
- Organise your space
- Take regular breaks
- Use diagrams
- Practice, practice, practice
- Snack on food with ‘high energy’
But, the most important thing you can do during exam season? Sleep! A good night’s sleep is much more beneficial than an all-nighter studying, especially the day before an exam. Cramming all of that knowledge into your brain will do you no good if you fall asleep halfway through! A crafty nap is also an option, preferably outside the vicinity of utter embarrassment.
Need a better place to nap than in a lecture hall? Then contact us here at CityBlock to take advantage of our amazing student accommodation in Lancaster or student accommodation in Reading. Call us on 01524 541251 (Lancaster) and our friendly team will be happy to help!
