“The next minutes will decide our future”— that was my mantra each time we enter the testing rooms.
Different emotions were drawn in the faces of the freshmen who will set to experience their first DevCom long exams, some with confident faces but mostly the worried ones. No ideas of what type and how difficult the questions will be, and if what have been reviewed are enough to pass. Long exams take a large percentage of the final grade in the university that is why it demands intensive preparation.
Even with a little chance that I will ace my first major exams in UP, I learned a lot to how I should deal with it next time around. DevCom are filled with significant terminologies, theories and history that you need to contain your brain. As I plan for a strategy for more exams to come, I listed down some tips which might help you too.
1. DO NOT CRAM REVIEWS (if possible).
They say UP people are innate with cramming attitude which I think many people have misinterpreted. UP students usually cram their requirements and reviews because we are always full of stuffs to accomplish. That is why if you have free time even the exam is set on the next two weeks, try to scan your notes. Never plant a mentality as early as freshie year the idea of reviewing the night before the test. We do not know what lies the next days to come, you might have two exams that day or a bunch of works to do which deadlines are close to the exam schedule.
2. FAMILIARIZE BUT ALSO MEMORIZE.
“You don’t need to memorize, just be familiarized with our lessons”, our professors always reiterate this to lessen the weight of our anxiety every time they announce the topics covered by the exam but when time comes objective type of questions flaunt in their test questionnaires, they are actually right but if you think you don’t have the capacity to just analyze religiously each question and remember the terms given during class discussions (which I believe sometimes we do not pay attention) then you should include memorizing as an important technique. We cannot love subjective type of exams if we do not even know the components of the lesson. Time is not an issue if you do tip #1.
3. PRACTICE APPLICATION.
In UP they want their learners not just to be knowledgeable with all the facts and ideas from the courses itself, they also hone the students’ mind to be aware with the prevailing problems in the society and how they will apply their lessons in helping resolve these existing predicaments. During exams mostly in essay type or diagrams, you will share practical examples of your personal ideas in line with the lessons you took up. Connected again to tip #1, managing your time wisely will give you ample time to practice.
4. ASK FOR TIPS.
In my fifth week’s blog I included “Making Friends” as an essential advice in order to survive DevCom and probably UP too. In this academic season we will be needing them a lot, especially the upper class students to ask for some advises of how the professors usually conduct their exams and if what type do they usually arrange their questionnaires. They might also give us idea on how to manage the hectic pressure of hell week. So make a lot of friendships and do not hesitate to tap them regarding exams, they will surely help you.
5.THIS IS NOT THE END.
Either you passed or failed in your exams always remember that it was not the end. If you succeed then you should keep up the good work and improve more but if you failed never think of quitting, because failure is also an indication that you are learning something, you can now point out your weaknesses and strengths and so you can formulate new strategies to do better for the next exam.
Examinations are truly terrifying for the majority of the students but if we plan and exert enough efforts to perform well, then, we can see the true meaning of exams, as an evaluation of how much we have learned from our lessons. And my statement is I think correct that on how we deal with the exam it is also a way of deciding how our future will become.
P.S. kahit ‘di ka from UP this is also applicable for you! Padayon!
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