Tag Archives: final exam

Take A Study Break: This Is How You Do It!

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Take A Study Break: This Is How You Do It!

I’m sure that many of us remember the pressure of studying for exams and I know that many of you will be doing just that right now. No matter if it’s university, college, or high school exams, they all bring with them the same pressure and tension.

It is so important to keep things in perspective at this time and to recognize signs of extreme stress in ourselves and in others. If things are really getting you down, then it is time to reach out and get the professional help that you need. If you just need some well-deserved rest and relaxation, turn-off the laptop, close up the books, and put the lids back on the highlighter pens for an afternoon or an evening. Here are some ideas on how you can relax after a major cram session:

Feed Your Body And Your Spirit:

When we are revising, we are all guilty of grabbing a snack here or there and all of our meals tend to be rushed because we feel under pressure to get back to our books. If we are sensible, those snacks will be something healthy such as fruit or nuts or we may crave the sugar rush of a candy bar (yum!). Taking some time to plan and prepare a lovely meal is good for your body and for your spirit. The process of focusing on a recipe and creating a meal calms our frazzled nerves and stress levels will fall.

Choose a meal that is quite complex and has several courses so that it requires your undivided attention. This is very therapeutic, as it stops your brain from jumping around from one thought to another. Make sure that it is packed with nutrients that your brain needs. Oily fish and dark green vegetables are perfect for a post study meal.

Lose Yourself In A Movie Night:

For the best movie night, you need to set the scene. Make yourself comfortable on the sofa, surrounded by all of the drinks and snacks that you could ever want (the more the merrier, I always say). If you have a cat or dog that you can plonk on your lap, it is even better – but they don’t always cooperate, do they? Now, pull up http://www.netflixupdate.com/4k-movies-on-netflix-list/ and put together a list of movies that will grab your attention and hold it for a few hours. You want all of the thoughts of exams, papers, and studying to be banished from your mind as you get lost in the plot. This will act like a spring-clean for your brain and give it time for all of your studies to settle into your long term memory. By the next day, you will be refreshed and ready for more.

Look After Your Body:

It is so easy to forget about our bodies when our brains are doing all of the work. You have to remember that if your body goes downhill, then your brain will too. Get outside, whatever the weather. Your body needs some sunlight to produce Vitamin D. When you get back in, do some gentle yoga or Pilates and then treat yourself to a long hot bath. Light some candles or incense, play some music, and take a little breather to clear your mind and relax.

Studying can be a total pain, but straight A’s for days will make your efforts totes worth it and your summer break well deserved!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

It’s Time To Revise The Way You Revise

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It’s Time To Revise The Way You Revise

Studying up for an exam  – whether it be school, a driving test, or work-related – needn’t fill you with dread. Changing the way you prepare yourself can make it not only more enjoyable, but more effective. Here are just a few methods worth trying out to help you conquer the next big test in your life:

It’s not about the hours you put in:

No, this isn’t an encouragement to cram the night before. Revising weeks in advance is still important, but you needn’t spend hours burrowed in a textbook each day. Instead, dedicate small amounts of time each day to brush up on a few new things that you’re not as confident with. Cram in short bursts and give yourself a break and time to relax and reward your mind, then take another crack at it the next day.

Destroying the ‘fear of the unknown’:

Exam nerves are largely a fear of the unknown. However, nowadays, there are so many online tools that can better prepare you for the examination. For example, past exam papers are often easy to find online. By knowing what came the year before, you may have a better idea of what’s most likely and most unlikely to appear this year. There are also sites such as https://gradebuddy.com/ that can provide you with class and lecture notes for any of those lectures and seminars that you may have missed.

Knowing your learning style:

There are different learning styles better suited to different people. Some people revise better with others, whilst other may find this too distracting for their study style. Some people are visual learners, while others get put off by images and graphs. There are also other types of learning such as physical learning (doing practice exams, writing on sticky notes, playing revision games) and audio learners (listening to audio-guides, listening to other people). Find the learning style that best suits you, so that information gets soaked up more quickly and more effectively. Guides such as https://www.lynda.com/articles/whats-learning-style-find can help you get the best out of your individual learning style so that you can better prepare for the next big test.

Get out of the house:

If you’re just revising in your room, try a change of surroundings and see what effect it has on your output. Some people find going outdoors to be a good mental stimulation – although perhaps not on a miserable day. Libraries, coffee bars, and internet cafes can also be good places to get you feeling less confined. Make sure that there aren’t too many distractions by timing your revision periods well – going to a coffee bar during a busy lunch period might result in too much noise and a less than effective study sesh.

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Love, love, love studying outdoors.

Keep your body active:

Staying physically as well as mentally active is important when having a study session. Exercise gets the blood pumping around your body helping to circulate your brain with a fresh hit of oxygen. You don’t have to go for a jog or hit the gym – taking the time to do a few push-ups in your bedroom might be all that your body needs. There are also ways to revise as you exercise, although they may not work for all types of learners. You can listen to an audio study guide while jogging or doing a workout. Or you could work with a group of friends, throwing and catching a ball and having to answer questions each time.

Study up in small bursts and ace the next big exam that comes your way! You got this! 🙂

Featured Image By: Flickr

So Long, Fall Semester

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So Long, Fall Semester

Hellooo everyone and TGIF! This week marks the end of my fall semester at Tri-C and I am SO relieved to be done! I took all of my exams within these last few days and passed with flying colors, of course. This semester I took French I, Comparative World Religions, Intro to Civilizations, and Ethics and for the most part really enjoyed all of my classes. After my winter break, I’ll be taking French II, Abnormal Psychology, and Intro to Criminology – but I have an entire month until I have to start thinking about that!

I’m looking forward to having some downtime for once in my life during my winter break but not too much because I’ll be starting my new work opportunity this upcoming Saturday! As I mentioned in my previous post Exciting Announcements, I’ll be taking part in a research project as an interviewer for families effected by developmental disabilities. I’m so excited to get started and the beauty of the project is that I can make my own schedule for it so I can interview people whenever I want during my break. This is great for the days where I feel like lounging on the couch and watching America’s Next Top Model marathons!

I have a lot of friends returning to Ohio for the holidays so my winter break provides me with a lot of much needed catch up time with some of my dear friends. My brother and his wife will be coming home for Christmas. A pal of mine in LA will be returning to the home front AND my beloved best friend in the army, Tyler, will be making an appearance, as well! I’M SO HAPPY!!!

In the last couple of weeks of my fall semester, all I could think about was winter break…But that didn’t stop me from fully enjoying all of my classes! I learned so much in each of my courses and rocked straight A’s for days in all of them. Not only did I excel in my coursework but I also got accepted into two different advertising companies, Wordads and Twistfire Media, which I am SO thrilled about. Everything seems to be falling into place very nicely so with a happy heart, I can say So Long to my Fall Semester!

I hope all of you are having a fantastic start to your weekend! Where are all of my college kids at? Has your winter break started yet? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Ballin, Shot Callin

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Ballin, Shot Callin

Helloooo everyone and happy Tuesday! So remember how I mentioned in an earlier post “Bye Bye Spring Semester!” that I had a really rough time taking my math exam? I was so confident that I didn’t do too hot during my first college final at Tri-C, but guess what? Final grades were posted last night and this bitch got a 93% on the final! This resulted in an overall grade for the entire semester of…..drum roll pleeeeease…..AN A+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT EVEN?!!! I seriously almost cried when I saw my amazing grade! I was up late last night and I happened to check my grades just in case my teacher decided to post them, even though they weren’t due until this morning. When I saw the notifications that the grades were up, my heart felt like it was going to fall out of my butt. I was so nervous to click on the “Check Grades” link, but I shut my eyes really tight, took a deep breath, and clicked it anyways to see my results. I counted to three, opened my eyes, and let out a squeal of delight when I saw that beautiful A+. I didn’t care that it was midnight, I ran to my parents’ room to tell them the good news! Even in the middle of the night, they were both still super excited for me!! I took my final this past Thursday and spent all weekend freaking out about my grades. I spent many hours calculating the lowest score I could possibly get for me to fail the class with a C or lower. I racked my brains to go through the possible grades that I could have got on previous assignments – but nothing seemed to ease the nervous tension of waiting for that final exam score. I’m so happy I passed with flying colors, because I wouldn’t be able to take the math course that I signed up for this summer if I failed the current class and that was a major concern of mine. Words can’t even begin to describe how proud I am of myself. Seriously, I haven’t felt this good about anything in a very long time and I have solely me, myself, and I to thank for it! I worked my ass off, studied hard, and completed every single assignment, quiz, test, and extra credit opportunity to the best of my ability and it beyond paid off in the end! Now that this anxious weight of playing the waiting game for my grades has been lifted off of my shoulders, I can finally sit back and enjoy my mini break until my summer classes start up on the 26th! I’m so excited to continue my educational journey at Tri-C and I’m ready for everything that my new courses have to throw at me! As a reminder, I’ll be taking Social Psychology, Introductory Sociology, and Survey of Mathematics for the summer semester. All of the classes will be completed within ten weeks, so it will be very fast paced. That would have worried me before, but now I’m floating on cloud nine of confidence so I know that I can handle it and have another semester of wonderful grades to show for it! YAY SARAH! #smartypants

^^^ HOLLER!

Well I must be off to get ready for an afternoon of fun with one of my lovely girlfriends, but I just had to let you guys know about my good news before I leave! I hope all of you have a fantastic day! Does anyone know of any good websites to sell textbooks at? If so, I wanna hear from you so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Bye Bye Spring Semester!

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Bye Bye Spring Semester!

Heyyy everyone! I hope that you’re all having a fabulous Thursday night! Today was my last day of classes for the spring semester at Tri-C, and it went okay, I suppose. I’m not feeling too hot about my final exam for my math class. I’ve never taken a big college exam before and I seriously think that I had an anxiety attack during the test. I went into the classroom feeling fine, but as soon as that paper got in front of me…..no beuno. I started working feverishly ASAP, but my head got super foggy, I was sweating like no other (and I’m NOT a sweaty person), I was shaky, and I was drawing a complete blank on everything. We had two hours to complete the test, and by the time my head was thinking relatively clearly again a half hour had already flown by. When I saw that that much time had passed already, my ass got kicked into high gear and I started working like no other. Unfortunately the final hour and a half went by on double time, and I barely finished the test. I mean, I finished – but there were three or so problems that were only half way done at best. I walked out of the classroom feeling like shit, I seriously could have cried. My entire drive home my stomach was in knots and I was cold and clammy all over just from thinking about possibly failing the exam and my class. As soon as I got home I flopped onto my bed, because I felt completely drained…I had no idea that taking an exam could take that much out of me! After I rested a bit and my head defogged, I grabbed a sheet of notebook paper and made a list of all of the things that I know for a fact I did right and all of the things that I know I did wrong on the test. Luckily, the things that I aced nearly tripled the things that I felt uncertain about, so that made me feel a lot better. I won’t find out my final grade until Tuesday, so it’s safe to say that I’ll be freaking out until then. But here’s to hoping that I passed the class, which I will need a C or better to do. Fingers crossed! Despite the rocky math exam, this semester has been awesome! I learned a lot, I made some new friends, and I have some damn good grades to show for all of the hard work that I put into my classes. So here’s some quick pics of me giving the spring semester the boot, with a good old fashioned “BYE FELICIA!”

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^^^ Love that black and white filter! And believe it or not, that second picture isn’t filtered at all! That funky light bright lighting came out of nowhere while I was taking some shameless selfies, and I’m so not mad about it! As you can see, I’m totally rocking my new shirt from when I saw The Used in concert, I love it so much it hurts. (You can read all about my concert experience in one of my more recent posts “The Used Concert!!!!”)

Pretty please keep your fingers crossed for me that I managed to pull out a passing grade in my math class! And as always, keep the love coming with your likes, comments, follows, and shares! I’d especially appreciate it if you got the word out about my recent posts “Just So You Know” and “Look Like Lil Red” so I can make some extra closet space in my room! Thanks a million and have a beautiful night! Much love. -Sarah

^^^ That basically sums up my feelings on math right now. -____- MARRY ME JACK WHITE! ❤