Over the Edge + December 15, 2010 13 Tips on How to Handle Inevitable Exam Stress This may come as a suprise, but exams suck ass! DEVIN FLYNN CONTRIBUTOR This may come as a surprise, but exams suck ass! ’'m not sure if it’s just me, but has anyone else noticed that students are particularly stressed lately? I’m not talking about your typical final exam stress, where you can squeeze in one tiny beer if you promise yourself to study an extra hour (pft, as if!). No, I’m talking about a level of stress that has students’ eyes going wide as dinner plates and grabbing their asses like they have explosive diarrhea when you ask if they want to watch a movie. I’ve had numerous friends tell me in a worried frenzy that if they bomb their next exam, they will fail that course. From what | understand by informal polis, this phenomenon is not something found only in people in my year of study. It’s around the school. First year, second, even third; and God help those poor bastards graduating this year. So what the hell is it? , Is the Moose putting something in those pitchers of lager that’s slowing us down? (Blame the beer? Hell no!) Is it climate change? (Could be, we blame it for practically everything these days) Or maybe it’s the new class grade average put on the transcripts of students as of last year. (Possibly) . ; Why would that do it? Wouldn’t the chance to shove those grades in the face of your parents and say “HA! See, that class WAS hard!” make you feel better? Or would it simply raise expectations to get a good grade if you weren’t meeting that average? Whatever the case, | feel it’s worth sharing a few remedies for stress relief and studying for exams that I’ve found to be effective. | stress (pun intended!) that these strategies work for many, but not all. Do what works for you. If you don’t know what works for you, well, go figure out what works for you! | just hope these suggestions reach students in time before the inevitable bombing of those damn exams. 1. 1) Study groups 2. They're not hard to set up. You can do this by emailing your prof and asking that they mass email it to the class. Choose a time that seems to appease most people. Bear in mind, it’s damn near impossible to find a scheduling that fits for everyone. If you live in residence, try to gather a group of friends who live there. The great thing about study groups is that you don’t need to be smart to lead them. I’ve led study groups by myself, often asking, “Did you guys get this, because | didn’t!” You don’t have to be an expert on the topic, but simply a mediator, keeping people on track when your peers get off topic. Whether the distraction is the stress of exams or the ugly*Christfas sweater the prof wore on:the last day of class, you have to know when to keep everyone on topic. You don't have to be a study group Nazi, but understand that some people in the group may want to focus more on studying than joking around. 3. If you can teach someone something, you know it well enough. If you can’t, you've recognized something that you should focus your studies on. It’s a win-win! Don't forget, study groups with candy kick ass! 4. 2) Figure out what kind of learner you are 5. Do you retain knowledge from listening? Then attend study groups (see above). Ask questions. We've all been in that situation where you want to ask a question, but are afraid it will slow the class down. Well now is the time to ask, so ask away! You'll feel a lot less dumb when someone else pipes up and says, “OMG! | thought | was the only one who didn’t know what the hell he was talking about!” 6. If you're not a listener, you might be a visual learner. | know | am. When trying to remember something during a test, | actually imagine the notes | took, where they are in my notebook and where they were on the page. So draw pictures, doodle. I've been told several times that | have awesome notes. | can attest my writing is not the neatest, but | have a colour coded system that works great for me: * - Terms and definitions are highlighted red * Authors and pieces of literature good for referencing are highlighted blue ¢ Lists or bits of information | HAVE to know are highlighted green ¢ Bits | feel | should just know are highlighted a normal yellow * — Try this technique, or develop your own. Find what works for you. Just because you have your book open for three hours doesn’t mean you're retaining any information from it. 1. 3) Setup goals. 2. Feel yourself wearing thin? Just study until the next half hour, or study until that one section is done, or study until you know that one list of authors/plants/animals/ whatever off by heart. By setting up achievable goals it is easier to manage time and progress. Once you've done one section you can move onto the next. 3. 4) Remove distractions. 4. Disregarding the possibility of distractions with study groups (hence the need for a mediator), we all know damn well that Facebook should NOT be open while studying. Go for quality study time over quantity. Quit f*cking around and close CollegeHumour, Facebook, Skype, or turn off the bloody internet if you don’t need it. | find music is great because it closes off the world around me. As someone who often finds themselves in conversations in the school halls, | need to find places of solitude, so the open library chairs are not the best place. Being aware of distractions is one thing, doing something about them is another. 5. 5) Calm the f*ck down! 6. Seriously. I'm tired of the countless people online who bore you with their “FML” statuses or claims to have such a rough situation. We're all students. We know what it's like. Most of us have to worry about money, most of us have exams we might fail, most of us are sick at the same time. Maybe it’s all that stress that's bringing our bodies down, hm? Be positive damn't! 7. Take a break. Go for a walk. Clear your héad. Play a round of soccer. Get some blood flowing to that head that you've been cramming with statistics and definitions all week. Rest is vital to physical fitness, and | doubt that it's any less important for mental health and good study habits. Eat some proper food and get a good night sleep. This is all rhetoric we know, so quit your bitching and do it! Now, if you'll excuse me, | have to work on an essay due tomorrow that | haven't started yet. ONLINE SOURCE sometimes you just need to take a breath and chill out..