EXAM TAKING TIPS

Take 'em or leave 'em.

Proof here -- I don't know how helpful this will be, but I thought I'd give a few tips for folks that are nervous about taking finals for the first time.

Just like my other advice, this is science-based. Because all that feel-good vibes stuff drives me nuts.

1.) IF YOU HAVE TO "CRAM" DON'T DO IT THE NIGHT BEFORE. For instance, if you have only 3 days to study, breaking it into 2 hours per day per subject is way better than doing 6 straight hours the night before.

2.) ANKI IS YOUR FRIEND. Make the cards now, it's a fantastic way to memorize --but if you don't understand your flashcards, don't bother. This is a memorizing thing (great for languages or formulas) https://apps.ankiweb.net/

3.) MEMORY DEVICES:

You might have heard of PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction) making a word out of first letters. If it doesn't make a word, make a sentence like...

"Keep Pots Clean, Or Family Gets Sick" for the taxonomy order of Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species" or if you're a scuba diver "Bruce Willis Ruins All Films" for "BCD, Weights, Releases, Final Check"

4.) CALMING DOWN: Here's something I learned from freediving. If you find yourself going into major panic, you need to lower your heart rate. You need to get it as slow as you can. Now, a lot of folks achieve that through yoga/meditation. I can't do that. It just doesn't work for me. It's too slow and I'm too distracted. So I had to learn the scientifically proven heart rate lowering hack:

1. Exhale for the count of 8... (this is hard). A full slow count of 8, so almost a full 8 seconds. Not a fast 12345678, but 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8
2. Hold your breath for 2 seconds
3. 3) Inhale deeply for 2 seconds
4. 4) Hold your breath for 2 seconds

Repeat starting at one. If you don't believe it works, read this article about how some freediver's breathing can allow them to lower their heartbeat to the point where they can stay underwater for 7 minutes. https://theconsciousclub.com/articles/the-art-of-holding-your-breath-exploring-the-freediving-breathing-technique They do it using the breathing exercise, then going into deep cold water (which has to do with the mammalian dive reflex which you can't do unless your exam is underwater.)

5.) GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP: Tell your roommate to shut the fuck up. A good night's sleep is CRITICAL. This is another reason you shouldn't cram the night before. Your brain actually absorbs some stuff during sleep.

6.) SKIM THE EXAM BEFORE YOU START ANSWERING QUESTIONS: I always suggest this to students, and then some of them don't take it. So what happens? They spend a half-hour working on a question they don't really know the answer to, and then run out of time -- and they aren't able to get to the questions that they absolutely do know the answers to. Answer the questions you can ace FIRST. Then go back and tackle the others.

7.) WAKE UP EARLY. Rushing to class gets your heart rate up. When your heart rate is up, you are more likely to panic. When you panic, you are more likely to second guess yourself and more likely to make a mistake. (again, ask any scuba diver.)

8.) EAT BREAKFAST IF YOU USUALLY EAT BREAKFAST. I know some people who just can't eat breakfast early. But you don't want to be hungry during an exam.

9.) ONLY USE STUDY GROUPS WITH PEOPLE WHO GIVE A SHIT. I remember this from when I was in college. We'd schedule "study groups" and do nothing but eat pizza and bitch about classes. That was only until I did a study group with a roommate that was pre-med. We were studying totally different things, but she'd give me flashcards, and I'd ask her questions, then I'd give her my flashcards and she'd ask me questions. What really worked about that was that if I tried to give some bullshit explanation on one of my computer science answers she'd have no idea what I was talking about and would say... I don't know if that's the same as what's on here. Ditto with her pre-med questions. If she wasn't able to explain the answer in a clear way that I could understand as a non-premed student she knew she needed to work on it. But with some of my friends, it wasn't so much of a study group as it was a pizza party with textbooks open.

10.) READ THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS! READ THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS! READ THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS! READ THEM BACKWARDS IF YOU HAVE TO! I can't tell you how many of my really good students lose points because they didn't read carefully. And they aren't trick questions! I'll write something like "Give two examples of scene transitions that do X" and they'll list one. The reason? They just say "Give... transition.... do X". And boom - they lose 5 points on a 10 point question.

FINALLY -- IT'S GOING TO BE OKAY. This exam does not determine whether or not you get cancer. It is not worth beating yourself up for. Work your hardest to pass it, but if you can't -- I promise you that it's not the end of the world. You're not a bad person because you failed an exam. You're not going to get disowned. I promise that you're going to be okay. Your career is a marathon -- if you slow down and don't do great on one mile, that's fine. You've got 25 other miles to prove you're a hard worker.

Join us @nvblog