If you’re about to write an exam soon, read this…

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If you’re currently preparing for an upcoming exam, (I know CA final exams, and ACCA exams are just around the corner), then you might find this useful.

I am writing this to remind you of a few things that you may have forgotten while you’re hard at work trying to finish the coursework or getting through the revision rounds.

• You may not have completed going through all of your coursework or all of your Practice Manual/Question Bank material yet, but don’t let this discourage you from using whatever time is left to finalise your preparations. Don’t write yourself off when you haven’t even gone out and written the exam yet. Go out and fight – showing up is half the battle sometimes!
• The pages and books staring at you may look insurmountable, but just remember it will always be one page at a time, one chapter at a time and one question at a time. Focus only on what’s in front of you, not the million things waiting on your ‘to study’ list.
• Don’t get into the habit of comparing how far along your peers are in their preparation – you don’t need the outside world to jolt you into studying. Find your own reason for sticking to your study plan and devote your attention to only that.
• You can’t control the result, you do control the preparation, so do not spare a single thought to the outcome. Give it all you’ve got, and drop those insecurities.
• If this is your first time taking these exams, leave no stone unturned when it comes to your preparation so that your chances of making this the last time you’ll write this exam are drastically improved.
• If it’s not your first time, and you’ve tasted defeat, don’t beat yourself up and don’t let old nightmares haunt you. The past does not equal the future. Today is a new day, this attempt is a new attempt, and there is no reason it’ll turn out exactly like last time, the universe is constantly changing, so don’t lose focus.
• If it’s not your first attempt, make sure you have unflinchingly looked at what went wrong the last time and target your preparation to cover those gaps specifically, this won’t feel very pleasant, but it’ll pay off and will up your odds of getting a better result.
• It’s okay to take a few guilt free breaks to feel human again, just don’t overdo it.
• Remember to eat right and get enough sleep and allot time for some physical activity/rest – going beast mode is okay, but ruining your health is not!
• If you’re starting to panic, remember that the worst thing that can happen to you is that you’ll have to regroup and re-prepare – you won’t die from this, and the most important people in life will still love you, the people you value the most aren’t going to be put in danger either. It’s an exam, not the Hunger Games!

Always rooting for you,

Archana