How to handle examination jitters

As the examinations have already reached out to the door, there is no doubt that preparation for them must have been almost over now. The examinees might be suffering from the jitters due to the examinations approaching so close and so fast. There is no denying the fact that scoring good marks is more the matter of consistent practice and hard labour than otherwise.

However, the vital role of knowledge of modus operandi of preparing oneself to take the test on that big day cannot simply be underestimated. Right from the moment you set off from your home to the examination hall, you must take care of a score of things which are so indispensable for the purpose of achieving much-dreamed good results in the examination.

Stay cool and calm… be patient

Believe in your capability and avoid being swayed by the discouraging talks of your friends who you may be surrounded with on that day of so-called ordeal. Believe in your own potential and do not get mentally disturbed. Avoid the crowd of your friends just before the beginning of examination. Their company and negative talks may put you to more stresses. So choose an isolated place where you can revise or refresh your self-made notes or highlighted important points of books.

What must you do on the day of examination?

Before reaching and entering the examination hall always keep in your mind the following essential things-

• Set off early for the examination centre in order to avoid the busy traffic and other eventualities beyond your control.

• You must have a breakfast. Do not skip it.

• Carry the admit cards or the hall tickets and other writing paraphernalia, a few extra pens of very high quality and a pencil with a very good sharpener and an eraser. You may also carry a clean writing pad and a small scale for drawing lines or underlining something correctly.

• Do not carry with yourself materials, especially mobile, calculator, watch and other electronic and digital equipments and devices which are not allowed inside the examination hall with you. Better would it be if you do not carry them to the examination centre to avoid last minute disturbances and panic.

• Breathe deeply while waiting for the examination to start inside the examination hall.

• Start filling up the required information very carefully on the cover page of the answer sheets whenever you are instructed to do. Get much-needed help from your invigilators to correctly fill the entries on the answer books. Avoid cut, cross or double writing on the pages of the instructions. For this you must carefully listen to the invigilators' instructions.

• Read the instructions written on the top of both the answer sheets and the question paper very carefully.

• Duration of the first 15 minutes given to read the question papers must be strategically used. During this crucial period, you must think about the modus operandi of answers. You must bring back to your memory what you have so far learnt and mastered over the year.

• Read questions very carefully and try to understand their meanings minutely before answering them. Prima facie questions may seem to be easier but they may carry some indirect and implicit twists and turns which we cannot afford to ignore.

• Answering questions in sequence would ease the pressure and save your time. This method of answering the questions in sequence would also help the examiner to mark your scripts very well and without any problem. However, doing so is not a hard and fast rule. You may begin writing the answers of the questions which you know very well.

• Avoid wasting time answering the questions which you find very difficult. Do not linger on much to answer such difficult and tricky questions. Leave them then and come to answer them later when the time permits.

• Keep a few minutes in reserve to revise your answers at the last moment. This reserve time is like a life-saving time because it helps us correct blunders which we are likely to inadvertently do during writing the answers.

• Write answers point wise and paragraph wise. Each paragraph must contain a crucial point. Use in your answers the terms which are the special to the subjects.

• Adhere to the word limit. But this norm does not need to be very strictly followed. You may sometimes take the liberty of going beyond the prescribed word limits. However, exceeding the prescribed word limits by a range of 40 to 50 words in case of long-answer types of questions is not taken as much seriously. But only for your own benefit and time management you must do your best to essentially follow the word limits.

• Write the question numbers correctly and clearly. Better would it be if you encircle them.

• Spacing between answers should be fairly maintained.

• You must solve numerical questions stepwise. Because these questions have marks allotment stepwise.

• Highlight main points of each answer with colourful sketch pens of very good quality. Be always careful that in course of doing it you are not smearing your beautifully-written answers.

• Do not repeat nor spread the answers of the same questions on various pages of your answer book. Examiners are smart and intelligent and this would irritate them.

• You must do rough work when you solve the numerical questions. Choose preferably the last page of your answer sheet and upon the top of it write "Rough" or "Miscellaneous". Before submitting your script to the invigilator, you must cross all these pages. If you do not do any rough work to solve the numerical questions, it is considered by the examiner that you have copied your answers from some other unscrupulous sources or may have adopted unfair means.

---Shreeprakash Sharma