Tips Before/After the Onslaught

In every life of a college student, the sound of the word “exams” has never been pleasing to our ears. Without hesitation, we always sigh whenever our professors utter the terrifying words like quiz, assignments, and even reports. But the worst of all is having a surprise test before classes even start because it critically depends on the stock knowledge that you have on that day. At the end of the day, we get through our exams, quizzes, or reports nonetheless because that is the job of every college student.

However, this never-ending cycle of assessments can cause great stress or pressure when not controlled. So, in every examination, we must practice a routine that can lessen the pressure on our minds. Especially when you’re a DevCom student, exams were never meant to be easy. Because of these kinds of challenges, there are five tips given by a former DevCom student, Ms. Madelyn Altobano, to help us prepare or survive our DevCom examinations.

In every lecture, students usually take note of things that were being taught at class. At the beginning of classes, we usually bring out a pen and paper or notebook in order to note the lessons being given by our professors. Students do this almost every single day and sometimes, there’s an overload of information that can lead to confusion, especially in reviewing for an exam.

In order to solve this, we must organize the details that we took from every class that we’ve been through. Usually, we use tally cards to summarize the main points of every lesson, so it will be easier to consume the information.

After organizing the details from our notes, usually it is easier to review. However, for some people, it is not enough just to write a summary of things as there are still a huge load of information. We should also practice “Mnemonics” which is a device (such as a rhyme or acronym) used to aid recall. When we use this strategy, it is usually easier for us to memorize concepts because of the key patterns. We can also make a song out of it or tell a story about it to make memorizing more enjoyable.

For some students, it is not enough just to memorize the concepts because we also need to understand it wholeheartedly. We don’t go to schools or universities just to memorize a text from a book. The importance of learning gives us the ability to recall information, without memorizing the concept. Loving our subjects also means learning and we must have that kind of mindset in order have an easier style of reviewing.

Ah yes, the style of every college student in universities. Although we see some students persevering throughout their studies, we still know in our hearts that there are a lot of students who loves to cram. Well, in some cases, the cause of cramming is due to the inability to accomplish multiple things at the same time. If we have a project deadline on the next day that lines with our exam schedule, sometimes we don’t have enough time to accomplish either of the two. Because of this, we resort to cramming and it’s a stressful, tiring, and unreliable habit because we can’t comprehend a lot of information whenever we try to study for a short amount of time.

To solve this, we must manage our time and organize deadlines in order to accomplish every requirement. Establishing deadlines within a notebook or notepad can help in time management and reduces the chances of cramming for an examination.

Some college students say that sleeping is just a myth. However, we must keep in mind that sleeping is one of the essential factors in order to pass our exams. Our body and minds can’t handle the amount of workload every day so it is important to get enough sleep. Some college students say that it’s okay not to review as long as we had enough sleep. Usually, having enough sleep gives us a chance to have a passing score on our examinations.

Hopefully, these tips are helpful enough to pass our DevCom exams. Base from my experience, the DevCom examination is an onslaught for DevCom students, if they didn’t prepare enough. At the end of the day, we still need to be happy in order to repel stress before and/or after exams.