Are you beginning to feel it?
It’s like there’s something always there, watching you, waiting for you to notice it’s presence. Ready to hit you in the face if you try to ignore it, and prepared to offer you both success and failure at the same time. Cruel and kind in its own right. Extremely important, and yet, insignificant.
Yes, June may seem a long way away, but exams are definitely coming up. And depending on what sorts of exams you’re writing, they may be even closer- May IB exams, anyone?
Preparing for exams is definitely important, but too often do we indulge in the procrastination we are so familiar and comfortable with. As for that, there is a multitude of articles discussing the avoidance of procrastination… so let that be a discussion for another day.
But more than anything, exams inspire panic, and this can have terrible consequences. I suppose that’s why I’m writing this article myself: I just realized I have only 2 weekends left until May IB exams, and I’m currently in the midst of trying to outline some sort of revision plan while worrying I won’t have enough time. Yep, the exams I previously tried to push aside the thought of are getting uncomfortably close, and I’m beginning to recall how this pattern played out for me before- panic, more panic, a period of crazed, merciless studying… and exhaustion, which conveniently decided to take its toll right before my Physics IB exam last year. …good thing mid-exam adrenaline is a thing! But recalling how things were afterwards, I really do not want to go through that again.
So this year, I hope to avoid that slump (emphasis on ‘hope’). Naturally, this means writing about it, reflecting on what went right/wrong, and hoping that this could possibly help you, dear readers, who may also be going through similar realizations that exams are too close, and feel the onset of panic.
- Don’t ignore the inevitable!
You may want to pretend exams aren’t anywhere near you, that they’re not going to affect you and that you don’t need to think about them for this reason… but we all know this is kind of untrue. If they’ve been scheduled for you, they’re probably going to come to pass, unless there is some sort of unpredictable situation. More likely than not, you’re going to have to start thinking about them at some point, so even if you want to push off studying for a while, make sure you’re aware of when you ought to start revising for them.
2. Plan for success – don’t even let failure be an option, yet.
There is a lot said these days about accepting failure, but it is often misinterpreted. Yes, if something goes wrong, then you’ll have to adapt and carry on, but having a mindset that allows you to fail right from the beginning may not be the best motivator for carrying out a successful plan of any sort, whether it be studying or making bigger decisions in life. You have to do all you can to achieve success, because, in the end, that is the goal. Each person may define it differently, but we all have to try our hardest to make it happen. Small failures are inevitably going to happen at some points as well, but the difference with this mindset and a mindset that allows failure from the beginning is that if you let yourself fail right from the start, you won’t be able to motivate yourself to get back on track and achieve your goals, and you’ll never achieve success because you think your overall plan will inevitably fail. However, if you have a solid plan for success and realize failure will be a part of it, then you’ll be able to recover from any sort of mini failure and get back on track to achieving your goals.
With regards to exams, this can be easily related to studying. We all promise ourselves we will study at some point, but one big difference between those who actually do it and those who don’t is the mindset they have going into it. Some people try to plan to study, sort of, but they also know they won’t study and plan to incorporate all sorts of distractions because after all, they won’t study anyways. Others, however, make solid study plans and stick to it for the most part- sure, they end up taking little bouts of procrastination to play around on the internet or talk to their friends, but they are able to return to their plans because they know from the beginning that they will carry it out.
3. If all goes well- awesome!
Success on your exam? Great! That’s what we all hope for, and such an achievement feels awesome, especially when you recall all the hard work that went into it. But remember, you only succeeded because of this hard work- don’t lose sight of the end-goals your exams are allowing you to achieve. For example, even if you feel you aced your first diploma (or IB exam, because those matter too 😛 ), remember you still have several more and need to dedicate yourself to studying for those as well. Because after all, you need more than one mark to get into uni (sorry, that’s my priority at the moment… but the same applies for people sitting exams other than diplomas, or people working on any sort of degree- you can’t be a success with only one good course).
4. If not- remember, exams are important, but there are many other things that are, too.
Don’t let your one failure turn into more. Perhaps that’s a blunt way of putting it, but you have to realize that though the results may not have been what you wanted, it’s just one exam. There will be many more exams, and many more opportunities besides for us to achieve what we want. Beating ourselves up about something in the past not only makes us more miserable, but it can also keep us from achieving success through other means.
Again, one mark isn’t enough to get you a diploma or a degree… and this works to your favour in this case because it means that even if you bungle one exam, you still have several more chances to make it up. You’ll have to work harder for it, but success is possible and is never quite out of reach.
Of course, there’s the possibility that we mess up all our exams. Obviously, we would hope this wouldn’t happen, but even in this extreme, we have to remind ourselves that life is still bigger than a few standardized tests. Whether we will achieve success or happiness in our lives is not determined by these few exams, but rather, we ought to look into other ways to become successful. This can look different for every person, but at the end of the day, we all have to be mindful of what each of us needs to be successful, and we have to be determined to achieve what we want. Difficulties may arise, but that’s no excuse to sit back and let ourselves fail; rather, we have to grab hold of the wheel, decide which way we want our lives to be headed, and work to make it happen.