Spotlight

Exam Boot Camp!

Apurba Jahangir
Photos: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

That time of the year has finally come. No matter how much we try to get away from it, it comes eventually. Some of us are ready to take it down while some of us are shaken by the bone. The people who don't even do their prayers regularly at this time kneel before the mighty god to get them through this despicable time. According to the new education policy of Bangladesh, the bengali medium students have to sit through four board exams in his/her school and college life. And two of them are already knocking on the door, whispering your name like your some kind of a monsters meal. But with a couple of secret weapons, one can easily beat this nasty beast. That's right people; it's time to take down the two dreadful monsters named SSC and HSC!

To much study can suck the soul out of a person

	Studying in a messy inviroment can be stressfull

Giving board exams, especially in our country is like preparing for war. The whole family is only concentrated about you and you only. Doesn't matter if it's your cousin's wedding, or your nephews birthday, cause they are not going anywhere because of you, especially the moms. Though during the exam times, it really shows how much your family care about you. Cause they are going to sacrifice a lot of things over the months for. Like I said you're going to war and you need all the support you can get.

Because it's a war, you need proper training to go through this hell. Yes, of course you have to do the proper studies, get your syllabus complete, and understand every single detail of the text books. If you think that you have already gone through this and you are completely ready to meet the big boys, trust me you are not that lucky. Cause no matter who you are no matter how much you memorize the text books; you are going to freak out about the exams. So here are a couple of tips before leaving for battle.

Extra care from the family can be annoying sometimes, but it will help in the long run

What to do:
One of the things you are going to face before the exams is a lot of advice from a whole lot of people. It's not just going to be your family and friends, the people who you've never even knew are going to give you a lot of friendly advice about the battle field. And you should listen to every one of them (I mean you kind of have to. You don't want to be rude and mean before the exams, trust me). Except memorizing all the details and what not, here's a couple of things you can do before the exams.

Everybody have advice for the examinee

* Analysis the key points.
* Eat well before the exams.
* Feed your ruminator. Whatsoever we fritter time doing, thinking, and seeing in the 45 minutes prior to falling asleep is what our brains ruminate on all over the night. So it's to your benefit to feed it -- the things you want to keep in mind for the next day's exam.
* Get a good night's sleep. You necessitate your 7-8 hours of superiority sleep to carry out at your best.
And on the day of the exam, make sure to;
* Eat your breakfast .Remain your body, mind and blood sugar in equilibrium.
* Do light exercise.
* Do a light review.
* Keep the Exam in viewpoint.
* Breathe! Numerous students stiffen, and forget to breathe, or take shallow breaths. Be sure to breathe intensely from the diaphragm. This will assist your muscles feel improved and will help to clear your head and permit you to think superior.

Feeding the ruminator

You will hear these tips over and over again. Cause they have been passed on through generations to generations. And its time you hold the torch.

What not to do:
Before the exams there are some things that you should really avoid. 1st of all, you really should not mess with karma. Because we all know how that will go for you. So one of the advices is, be as polite and humble as you can. Give up the rock star attitude for a couple of days. The best is to walk on the path of Gandhi. But all jokes aside, there are a couple of things that you should not do during the exams. here they are;

1. DON'T lose hope and faith. Hope is one thing that should not go out of stock.
2. DON'T take tension about studies or exams. Taking tension is anyway not going to help you go further.
3. DON'T be over-confident about your studies as well as DON'T be under-confident. .
4. DON'T sit on studying at a stretch for hours together.
5. DON'T entertain people giving you negative input. If such person is intimate to you, just over-hear those things.
6. DON'T study for the exams at the cost of your body and health.
7. DON'T sacrifice your sleep as well. Our body needs rest at least for 6 hours in a span of 24 hours. Just remember studying for 16 hours a day is just a fantasy. Even if you study for 10 hours a day, it's more than sufficient.
8. DON'T let fear and threat enter your mind. These are like termites. They destroy your efficiency.
9. DON'T compare your studies with any of your friends. Everybody has his own capacity to learn. If somebody tells you that I have finished up with 3-4 readings of every subject, it may be a case that he requires to study that much to remember. Your requirement may be different and only one person can assess that and that person is YOU.

10. DON'T keep on studying till the last moment of the exam. Allow some rest to the brain so as to work efficiently in the exams.

11. DON'T take emotions of one paper to another. If the paper was tough, the fear of failure will not let you study well for the next paper. On the other hand, if the paper was much easy, the pleasure of getting good marks will not let you study properly. Don't make spillovers from one paper to another paper.

12. DON'T discuss the papers with friends or teachers after coming out of the exam hall. If you think any of your answers have gone wrong, it will not let you study for next papers.

So avoid all these and you're good to go.

Work Smart:
You don't really have to work your socks off to get good grades. Yes, it will be good if you can memorize all the books, but if you can't then it's not going to be the end of the world for you. If you review the past questions and see the test paper suggestions, you will see that you can narrow the whole thing down to a couple of questions. But as we know it, the curriculum is changing, going towards a more creative aspect with what they call the Srijonshil Podhoti. So for that you have to read a lot of out books. Though you don't have to memorize every single detail for this type of questions. But what you have to do is have a thorough knowledge about each subject. So that way you know what you are dealing with.

Fads and Rumors:
There are a lot of things you can do that can get you to ace your exams. But nobody knows what those things are. What we know, are just rumors. At ancient times (when my mom and dad were giving the board exams) they say there was a cliché thing about who reads for how long. And whoever read the longest was considered the genius among the average. But as we all know, it's not true. It all comes down to whether you understand it or not. And we see students who failed most of the time in school, get the good grades on board exams. Muhammed Ali, a student of Dhaka College says, “When I was in school I always used to fail math. My math teacher used to tell me just to pass on the board exam, when he was teaching all of my friends how to get an A+. But surprising everyone mostly my math teacher, I got an A+ too when a couple of brilliant students didn't. So you really don't know who's going too turned out what.” A K M Abdul Matin, English lecturer at Udayan School and Collage says, “Its obviously doesn't matter how long you study as long as your with the process. I mean three hours every day even can serve you well. And with the curriculum changing, it is now all about skill based and creativity which is breaking the past barriers. A couple of years from now, ws will see that the old mukhosto biddya will be gone forever.”

So all the best to all the SSC and HSC candidates. Go show them who's boss!

Taking breaks can sometimes help out a lot