Get ready for forthcoming O/L exam......!

by Panchamee Hewavissenti

Exam.. Exam....Exam...How would you feel when someone reminds you about the exam...? Are you ready for the forthcoming O/L exam? Don't panic... Exam is not a demon which awaits to swallow you. Then why should you be scared..? Sunday Observer Magazine tries to give you sort of guidelines to get you ready for the exam and to get rid of exam anxiety and to be a successful student.

The keys to the success:

(a) Desire

(b) Discipline

You need to be successful, and for that you need to be disciplined yourself to do what it takes to be successful. There are lot of things that you cannot do anything about, but you can learn, to be disciplined. Set your goals..! Make plans and schedule your time.

Before you know it, you will have the discipline that should be necessary for your success in studies.

Relax and don't over worry about the exam. If you are already doing everything you can and should do, then there's no reason to worry. If you're neglecting your home work and skipping classes, then you should be worried. Do you know the secret of every successful student? It's the motivation, time management and effort. Success in study requires great deal of effort.

Stay calm and confident. Take a break when you study. Most important thing, keep reminding yourself that by working hard till the exam will pay you off. Get motivated, be enthusiastic, show your responsibility to your education.

You are the one who's going to be benefited from your studies, not someone else is. Remember that many come to learn, but not all learn. And it is a pain at the beginning, but will be a shine at the end.

The last couple of weeks before the exam is not the time to slack. This is the time to double your effort. Make a schedule and plan every hour of your time. Don't schedule anything that is not necessary. Go for an early start on the studies for your final exam.

Remember, no two students will learn the same way or at the same speed. No one can tell you, how to study and learn. LEARNING IS PERSONAL. You must discover the most suitable way for you to study and then to do whatever it takes. You can't imitate your friend when studying.

You should start early to study. If you procrastinate till the end you will be in chaos from where and which subject to study. The earlier you start to study for your exam the better your results will be. Exam experts say that the exam period begins on the first day of the term. Get yourself organised and keep working on a regular basis.

Study tips

Manage your time effectively

Success in study depends on effective time management, which is all about goals. Write down your long term, short term and daily goals. Access them, develop methods to meeting them. One of the best ways to meet your goal is to reward yourself when you achieve your study goal.

For example, set a goal to work on last year's Maths paper within the allocated time. And during that time put yourself into that and concentrate on that. Take a break and reward yourself with a thing you like such as watching your favourite TV programme, after you have completely finished the particular work.

Effective time management will also allow you to allocate time for school, private life , social life and free time. But this is very important..! The O/L exam is short distance away.

So you have to sacrifice your time off from your private entertainment and social life completely to study. Your total commitment should be to study. Because you can enjoy as much as you want after the exams. Once the exams are over you cannot do it again at any time you want....

Concentration is most important. Everyone has a different attention span. At the beginning start by studying 10 to 15 minutes at a time and then build up longer periods over time. Be realistic.. when you find it difficult to concentrate or remember what you've been studying...then of course you need a break.. It is not the length of the time which matters, it is the amount you can understand and remember, which matters.

Studying one hour per day of the week is more effective than studying for 7 hours in one day of the week. You should give your mind a break. By resting your mind periodically, your concentration on your work will improve. It's better to spread out your study time than trying to learn every thing in one big session.

Schedule your time for one entire week. Decide on every half hour, how to spend.

At home

Find a clean, comfortable and well lit place to study at home. Calm place with no noise would be ideal to study. But be careful not to be too comfortable. Lying down on the bed and studying is too comfortable. Being too relaxed during studying won't keep you activated. You will be lethargic and won't be able to concentrate properly.

You will feel sleepy and ultimately you will fall asleep. When this becomes a habit, it will be very hard for you to get rid of that. Human beings are creatures of habits. When you find an ideal place for you to study, stick to it. Using the same place for studying will help you to concentrate better.

You should identify the obvious distraction when you study. Turn off TV and put away newspapers and magazines and avoid answering the telephone.

Personal issues can affect your study. If you have a problem, first you should solve the problem. Otherwise it will keep you away from studies and will be difficult to concentrate on studies. At this time you should only think about the exam. Keep that in mind.

To be continued.....