EXAMS. Just in case you had forgotten
So I heard this 'revision' thing was all the rage right now
You know when Facebook has that dumb “what’s on your mind” thing on the status box, well there’s been one thing on my mind all term. Exams. Trouble is, once you get old (I’m a 4th Year…) you just stop being phased by the whole not-being-able-to-answer-entire-sections-of-exams thing. Maybe I’ve become au fait with how exams at university work, or maybe all us final years are just burnt out and don’t care anymore, oddly at the most crucial stage of our degree. To be honest with you, final years have had so many exams for so long that we’re just bored of them now.
I like to think it’s the former. I honestly feel sorry for this year’s freshers, and next year’s lot too. They needed a couple of A*s, not As. Even if you do say ‘meh, exams were harder in my day’ you still have to appreciate the error margin they have. 10% is not much to work with: one mistake and you’re like a screw on a construction site – totally screwed (I have exams alright, I couldn’t be bothered to think of a better simile). Kids nowadays (uhoh, I am old) are so used to needing 90% on an exam that the adjustment to suddenly not being able to know absolutely everything perfectly and never be phased in an exam is just incredibly extreme. Suddenly entire parts seem like they can’t possibly have been on the syllabus.
So here comes the advice paragraph. Relax, a bit. Half of the battle is staying calm under the pressure. If you let the volume of content and short amount of time get to you, you’ll spend 2 hours in a panic trying to look over 20 things; you could have spent that time properly looking over 10 different bits and it would have made a real difference to what you know, and makes you feel confident you’re making – admittedly slow – progress. Essentially, what I’m saying is look that exam right in the eye and say the following: fuck you, I’m a total badass. Quick note though, don’t say that if the exam is a viva; trust me, they won’t appreciate it. Anyway, I’m off to revise, calmly. Good luck with exams and projects everyone!
