How to successfully prepare for exams?

It is a bizarrely universal fact that students fear examination most on this earth. It is a really ubiquitous phenomenon which gives goose bumps to the students. But it is very much natural and there is nothing weird about it. Have you ever imagined why students get so much frightened and disturbed due to examination? 

In fact, the fear of examination is nothing but the fear brought about by the lack of preparation for the examination. It is caused due to lack of planning for the examination.

If lack of preparation of examination causes fear and wreaks havoc upon the mental status of the students then its solution also definitely lies in the well-chalked out and meticulously-planned strategies for the preparation of examination.
Here are given 9 important steps to prepare for an examination which a student needs to religiously follow to secure the much-cherished marks and to reach out to the pinnacle of their career in the years to come -

1. First know what you want to achieve in your life 
What usually happens that students do not even know what they dream to become in life and what percent of marks they want to score in the examination they are to sit in. This is the Achilles’ heel of the success of students.

So the most important task to score good marks in an examination is to ask a question to yourself - what do you want to achieve in your life? If you do this homework very early and sincerely in your life, your intensity and tempo of will power to study would never decelerate and you will find a beautiful purpose of your life to chase. This would keep on motivating you to push hard for what you want to achieve in your life.

2. Study regularly
For the preparation of an examination, studying regularly at your time chosen and planned is very much essential because this much-required habit gives a student the confidence to complete the syllabi of all subjects in time. Besides, regular study habit makes a student disciplined and punctual. It is also the process of learning the things gradually bit by bit. Also with the regular study habit we can control and command over the entire contents of syllabi for the examination well in time.

3. Preparation of note books 
In the information technology age of today, the market abounds in various guides and help books on a particular subject. But big problem is that they do not substantially serve the purpose of students from the examination point of view. But note books prepared by students are just as tailor-made and exactly prepared as per the needs of a student.

So, they are the most helpful for the purpose of examination. At the time when the days for the commencement of examination are very much numbered, these note books work like quick fix solution, especially for the revision of the syllabus of the subject.

However, the process of preparation of note books is not an easy task. One needs to take care of the following points very seriously while preparing note book of a particular subject-

• It must include all the relevant topics and concepts and explanation thereof.
• Facts, figures and formulae of all the chapters of the subjects must be minutely jotted down.
• Answers to the questions given in the exercise must be clearly explained.
• Important points of the concepts and topics must be highlighted with some colourful sketch pens.
• Keep notebooks neat and clean. Avoid overwriting and rough works in the note books.

4. Cease learning by rote, start learning by understanding  
Rote learning is a short-cut way to remember something and that is why it does not provide us what we may call the permanent learning. Because when we parrot something its memory retention period is very short and students tend to forget it when they need it most at the time of examination. That is why learning by doing or understanding is supposed to be the best method of mastering any topic. This sort of learning lasts long and the students do not need come under pressure to retrieve it when they require it most in the examination. In case of problem in the understanding of a certain topic, students may seek the help of teachers, experts and sometimes his or her own friends too. But learning by rote must be avoided.

5. Only practice will make you perfect
The old adage goes that practice makes a man perfect. This applies more in the preparation of examination than anything else. Keep on trying and learning the lessons you feel difficulty in understanding and mastering. Stop getting frustrated and depressed when you fail to master a topic or a subject in one go. Especially, in the subject of mathematics, intensive practice to solve the questions proves to be very beneficial in learning and mastering it. So, always keep on learning things without losing hope and enthusiasm. No doubt, this way you will prove to be master in your subjects.

6. Write while you read
Both the arts of reading and writing are so closely interwoven activities of the learning process. It means both go side by side. But usually what happens that students go on reading a lot of things for hours and write nothing about them. In fact, this is an incomplete and impractical study pattern. Because this way learning is slow and memory retention too is very temporary. 

However, when we keep on writing what we read, it considerably helps to retain the things longer. That is why when sitting for studying, a student must have a notebook and a pen and he or she must keep on jotting down various important facts, figures and formulae. This helps learning the things faster, easier and surer.

7. Planning is must
Planning for the preparation of an examination is one of the most important strategies which a student cannot afford to ignore. By planning what we mean is to chalk out a holistic time table for the study schedule. With the time table a student does not get confused and distracted about what to study at a particular time. This also helps the students concentrate very deeply on study. In fact, the modus operandi of time table making is also not so easy. 

For the making of a perfect time table one must consider a lot of factors which substantially influence the students. First of all, students must know the level of difficulty of a subject. Some subjects are very interesting and easy for them while some of them may not be so. Easy and interesting subjects may be allotted relatively lesser time and resources than the subjects which are very difficult. 

Secondly, the time table must be pragmatic which can be strictly followed as per the convenience and resource availability of the student. Third, a student must also consider seriously about the availability of time for the self-study. When all the above factors are taken care of while preparing time table then it becomes easier to implement. 

And more than anything else, students must he very determined and dedicated to stick to the time table for the study. Merely making time table would not help them prepare for the examination so seriously as to realize the goal.

8. Be choosy about your friends
Friends are the natural need of a man, there is no gainsaying the fact. But some friends need your company only sharing gossiping and passing their time for the fun and entertainment purpose. In fact, what happens that when we sit together with our friends, time passes faster than anything else? This badly disturbs and messes up the study schedule of a student. 

But it does never mean that we must not keep friends. We cannot underestimate the importance of friends in human life but at the same time we also need to be very much conscious of the onus of tasks to be accomplished that day. A student must decide what and which time he or she must spare for the friends otherwise his or her quality time is bound to go to waste.

9. Be judicious in the use of smart phones, games and social media
In the information technology age of the 21st century, smart phones have proved to be very beneficial but at the same time we cannot deny their adverse effects on the serious study by the students. The irremediable obsession and fast intoxication of the smart phones, especially for chatting with friends on the social media like those of WhatsApp, face book, twitter, Instagram etc and playing the various games has harmed the concentration and self-study habits of students more than anything else. 

No doubt, it is not easy to segregate and insulate one from these miracles of modern times but what we cannot afford is their usage at the cost of self study and concentration on the preparation of examination. In fact, scoring good marks in an examination is not the matter of sheer talent, it is also an art. It is also the matter of life style, individual philosophy and aspiration, moral and ethical values and familial upbringing. 

But one thing is the surest which a student must not ever forget - scoring good marks in an examination, at most, is the matter of dreaming for touching the height of sky and pushing hard, determinedly sacrificing all the comforts and committing oneself to realize it at any cost.

 - Shreeprakash Sharma