Three R’s Vital to Exam Success

By the Adero Team

Over the next four weeks, we will be discussing a very important part of high school and university studies: exams.

Exams are often a source of great concern and stress for most students. After all, they contribute significantly to your overall mark, and one bad exam can lead to you repeating a subject; or worse an entire year! Therefore, it is very important for any student to prepare well for exams.

Many of our students will be writing exams in May and June this year, so we’ll be sharing with you some of the exam preparation skills that we’re teaching them over the next four weeks. Why now? Well, as Tanzanian marathon runner Juma Ikangaa teaches: “The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare.” And what better time to start preparing for your exams, than right now!

Begin by grabbing a cup of hot tea or coffee and finding a comfy seat. Take a careful sip, lean back, and take a few deep breaths. Repeat until you feel calm and comfortable. Did this exercise relax you? If so that’s brilliant because relax, recuperate and renew are the three R’s vital to exam success. Read on to find out more.

Relax, Recuperate, Renew

Relax. It's vital to Exam Success. Picture Source: http://findwallpaper.info

Tests and exams are your opportunity to prove that you are good enough to be a professional in your chosen industry. They are the academic equivalent of a sports competition, where the goal is to score as well as possible, and to win. However the point at which you win the competition is not the point at which you pass (although the main aim of a test/exam is to pass). It is the point at which you have fully demonstrated the skills and knowledge you’ve gained through your studies.

Because of this, tests and exams are a great cause of stress. Although stress can be good for you (the body’s natural response to stress usually leads to a boost in your performance, productivity and endurance), excessive concern over a task or activity can cause stress to impact you negatively, leading to a poor performance. This is why it is important to balance the amount of studying you do with periods of relaxation so that you can recuperate and renew your efforts.  Just like sports, too much anxiety or training for a game can cause burnout and/or injury, too much studying can cause similar mental harm.

Minimising stress, and incorporating relaxation into your study routine, involves the following:

1. Ensure that your exam preparation does not cause you to severely deviate from your usual study patterns. Create and use a weekly timetable so that you can effectively manage your time during your exam period.

2. Ensure that you have regular and adequate sleep, maintain a healthy diet and get regular exercise.

3. Incorporate several relaxation techniques into your study sessions. Relaxation breaks the stress cycle, allows you to recuperate the energy you use up during a study session, and thus ensures that you can recommence studying with renewed focus. There are several excellent relaxation techniques you can make use of, including:

Meditation is an excellent method for relaxing during study sessions. Picture Source: http://is.gd/4FUrPn

• Controlled Breathing
• Stretching
• Light Exercise (e.g. Walking)
• Prayer
• Meditation
• Listening to calming music

Refer to the internet, a library, or your student support centre for further information on the above relaxation techniques. As an indicative guide, try to relax for between 5 – 15 minutes, for every 45 – 55 minutes you study.

By incorporating these simple stress management and relaxation techniques into your test/exam preparation, you will ensure that you can consistently perform at an excellent level. A great time to begin practicing these techniques is during the Easter holidays. Many of us use this four-day break to spend quality time with family and friends. But it also presents the perfect opportunity for you to practice relaxation techniques, without the pressure of school or University commitments. So set up a timetable, get some much-needed rest, and find out which relaxation technique(s) suit you best!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this article. Feel free to post a comment below, or send us feedback on our Facebook (http://is.gd/AderoFB) or Twitter (http://is.gd/AderoTWITTER) pages. We can’t wait to hear from you. And keep an eye out for our next article on Exam Preparation, which will be published next Wednesday.