Harshada Keer Ajmera is the Activities and Events Coordinator and a Spanish Teacher at Aditya Birla World Academy. She is responsible for all things not academic at the Senior School in ABWA. Being a teacher at heart, she believes that education must move beyond material mastery. Every classroom must allow for an atmosphere of expression and creativity. She is passionate about the Spanish culture and seeks to inculcate some love for world cultures among her students.
Is there something more enchanting than the start of spring? The singing birds, the rising clouds, the warm weather, and the allergies (maybe that last one is not so enchanting at all). The fact is that the end of the semester drawing nearer, the months of April and May are some of the most intense academic moments for students- Final E.X.A.M.S. In simpler words, that familiar knot in your stomach that signals the impending arrival of stress, sleepless nights and caffeine overdose! If any of these feelings sound familiar, you are not alone, and there are things you can do to help yourself:
- Get organized
Working backwards always helps! Look at exams as a time bound activity. So if your exams are scheduled for May, it is your 60-day challenge! Make a schedule for revision and for practice. Sit with your subject teachers and plan your revision schedule keeping in mind the final day of the exam. Create a schedule for your revision by breaking it down into tiny chunks. You won’t be puzzled on what to focus on at the start of the day once you have made a schedule. Study smart. Make sure you have plenty of spare time to relax and unwind. Nobody can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You will do the same amount of work in half the time or less if you allow yourself plenty of rest.
- Mind your space
Blending our physical spaces is one of the biggest blunders. This has become more relevant now that we are all home bound!! We work from homes, study in our bedrooms, eat on the bed and probably use the study table to just dump stuff! It is important to respect the space so even your mind can dissociate. Designate an area where you would do all your studying and revising. Beds should be meant only for relaxing.
- Exercise and eat a well-balanced diet
When you’re under a lot of stress, exercising may seem like the last thing you want to do, but this one comes with a guarantee that you will feel better afterward. In fact, if you are feeling up to it, you may have enough energy to do another hour of revision afterwards.
It is also important to eat the right food during these high stress moments for mental health and wellness. So it’s time to junk the junk and get your heart pumping!
- Your phone can wait
Put that phone away while you are studying. The distraction or rather the temptation to see that one notification from some long lost friend is not going to help. Checking the latest posts on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms when revising is the worst kind of procrastination, as we all know how easily time flies when you are swiping through your feeds. A bit of unchaining from the phone can do wonders to your stress levels!
- Mock exams at home
One of the most common causes of exam anxiety is a lack of information about what to expect on the day of the exam, such as what questions to expect and how to respond to them. What is the most successful way to deal with this? Practice, practice, practice!
Get help from an adult to supervise the timings. Time your at-home mocks. If you’re having trouble finishing your responses on time or have a lot of time left over at the end, keep practicing until you have nailed the timings. It’s a good idea to seek feedback from your subject teachers at school. They can help you look at your mock mocks to see what areas you should build on and whether there are any aspects of your case that could be improved further.
Exam success does not determine who you are. Everyone reacts differently in different circumstances, and your personality is so much more than how well you respond to an exam. An exam just quantifies your knowledge. It always comes to challenge you and challenges are always difficult. Put your worries and stress into perspective and you will be able to face the exams head on! Let’s hope these small tips help you battle the exam stress!