5 Tips to Survive Exam Week

Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing. – William Arthur Ward
 
Exam week is known as the most stressful week of the semester; however, it doesn't have to be. The week becomes stressful because people tend to lose control of their time. Here are five tools to help you manage your time and survive exam week. The very first thing you should do is

1. Organize everything. In order to have a smooth exam week you should organize your notes from all of your classes and make sure you have easy access to them. For me it is putting all of my notes into one big exam binder and separating them by class.
2. The second thing you should do is ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask your teachers questions. Believe me if you don’t you will regret it.
3. The third thing you should do is schedule study sessions. Take some time before hand to schedule when you should study and make sure you stick to the plan you make.
4. The fourth thing you should do is schedule controlled breaks. Along with scheduling study sessions, go ahead and plan some controlled breaks (about 10-15 mins long). It is proven that if you take controlled breaks throughout studying, you retain more information.
5. Finally, the fifth thing you should do is get some rest. Sleep is one of the most important things that you need to regulate throughout exam week. That means that you should not stay up until 4 am studying for that math exam, but instead get a solid eight hours of sleep.

 
Before my junior year I didn't do a very good job preparing myself for exam week. I would wait until the last second to study and would not have anything organized. I lost sleep and could have done better on my freshman and sophomore exams. It didn't hit me until my junior year that I needed to prepare for exam week in order to succeed on my exams. I developed and stuck to the five tools above and saw massive change. I not only performed better on my exams, but I also felt more prepared as a student. These five tools helped me immensely and made exam week a breeze.
 
I guarantee that if you use the five tools I have listed above, you will see significant changes. These tools will prepare you as a student and will help alleviate stress. After using these tools, you will no longer dread exam week but will look forward to it. 

Eleanor Meek

Eleanor Meek is a senior at Episcopal School of Baton Rouge. She just finished up her last season on the Cross Country team and is also a part of the Episcopal robotics team. Meek loves learning and genuinely enjoys the pursuit of knowledge. Positivity and organization are also her two main priorities in life. Eleanor plans on majoring in Statistics next year in college.