So you're getting ready for a major exam. It could be a certification, licensure, board, prequalification, career or simply the biggest exam of your life with dire consequences if you fail. How do you prepare for it and make sure that you'll hurdle the test with flying colors?
PREPARING FOR THE EXAM
- Utilize visual aids. Write down your graphs, charts, formulas, symbols, definitions, key words in a piece of paper in big, bold, black, permanent ink and nicely arrange them like a wallpaper on your favorite spots where you can easily visualize them. Put them on the ceiling so when you're laying on your bed, there they are right on top of your head where you can easily read them. Put your visual aids in strategic locations--locations where you normally spend much of your time, sitting down, lounging, relaxing or laying down. Your idle time will not be wasted. You can even put them in the bathroom if you spend much time there. Doing it this way, gives you unlimited access to your study materials, even at times when you are simply doing personal chores. The constant visual input helps your memory absorb the lesson better.
- When you read your lessons, read out loud. Reading out loud allows your brain to have dual inputs--visually and acoustically. The acoustic part is even better. It helps you remember things as if remembering the lyrics of your favorite song.
- Record your lessons on your electronic gadgets. Listen to them as often as you would listen to your favorite songs on your MP3 players or your other electronic recorders and players. Getting a chance to listen to them as often as possible helps you remember them easily.
- Get an audio version of your book if it's available and listen to it endlessly. If it's not available check out for an electronic version (ebook). With it you can easily integrate your lessons with the available gadgets that you have to help you study. You can either listen to your audiobooks anywhere you go or read your lessons on the fly from your PDA, your cellphone, or your laptop.
- Scribble, scribble, scribble. Find a stash of paper, any writable paper. Make a pen handy. As soon as you sit on your desk, write down a quick formula, definition, graph, or any important lesson. Pick out at most three lessons, formulas, illustrations, or graphs that you want to remember. Write it down on the sheet of paper that you have and fill the paper from back to back. Keep on doing this until your hand remembers it. For a single formula, use as many paper as you want until you really get tired of scribbling the formula. You write it as if you are practicing to write your first letters of the alphabet. All As, then Bs, then Cs, until your hand automatically remembers it. Repetition is the key. Compare it to writing your own signature. No matter how intricately coded it is, your hand always remembers how to do it. The same principle applies to this trick. With this, even if you can't visualize the formula or the lesson in your head, your hand can still do some magic.
- Make up a good coding system to help you remember things easily. Here's a few examples:
SOH CAH TOA CAO SHA CHO - In trigonometry, Sine is equal to the opposite side of the triangle over the hypotenuse; the cosine is equal to the adjacent side of the triangle over the hypotenuse... and you continue with tangent, cotangent, secant, cosecant.
ROY G BIV - Not the name of your first boyfriend, but the colors of the rainbow arranged accordingly from the highest spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
SM VEM J SUN P (es em vem je san pe) - It is the alignment of the planets from the sun. Sun MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS JUPITER SATURN URANUS...
DESSERT or DESERT - Dessert (the 'ss' for 'sweet something') or Desert (the 's' for 'sand')
You get it now? Customize your own coding system to help you remember things much more easily. - Use flash cards to quickly check on your progress. In this day and age, there are already electronic versions of flash cards that you can easily load in your computer or PDA. But if you have no access to such, stick to the traditional way of doing it by using index cards. It will help you a lot.
- Take a periodic quiz on your own and gauge your passing percentage. Books often have chapter quizzes. Answer them and find out how much you really know about your subject matter. This will tell you to catch up or to maintain your pace of learning.
- Do hands-on exercises using your computer. Put your skills to the test. You will be able to sense how much you've learned and how much more you need to learn.
- Study with a group of people who have the same goal as you. Interaction helps clear certain questions about certain lessons or topics.
- In this age of internet technology, join groups and collect study materials from the group. If you are a member of a study group over the internet, you will most likely have access to dumps, guides, practice tests, notes and other useful materials that are made available for the group's free use. You can try this by searching for groups that share your field of interest. Start with Yahoo groups.
THE DAY PRIOR TO THE EXAM
- Relax.
- Don't open any books or study materials.
- Avoid stressful situations.
- Think about happy thoughts.
- Have a good night sleep.
ON THE DAY OF THE EXAM
- Keep yourself calm and composed.
- Focus.
- Don't miss your breakfast. Your brain needs carbs to fuel it up.
- If you feel tense during the exam, take deep breaths to loosen up.
- Ooppss! Memory malfunction? Take a minute. Find something green to stare at. It will help refresh your memory.