Finals are upon us here at Groves High School. And, as everyone knows, finals definitely aren’t something people look forward to. They are stressful, long and put pressure on you to get the best grade you can. But everyone still has to do them, no matter what. So to help guide you through finals, I will give you study tips and ways to remain calm through the week.
Before getting into your studying, here are some things you should do. Firstly, never keep all of your studying until the day before. Your brain isn’t able to cram that much information in a short amount of time. So always give yourself two to three days or more to study. If you know your exam may be more difficult for you, make sure you give yourself even more time to study to ensure you get the material down. Next, make sure you have an organized list of all the topics you have to study within each of your classes. Note the topics you have difficulty in, and the ones you are good at. This can help you spend more time on topics you don’t really know. Lastly, make sure your study space is quiet, organized and comfortable for you. This can help you to keep focus and ensure you are getting what you need done.
As well, there are many study tips that you can use to achieve a good grade on your finals. Next, never just read and re-read notes over again. This will likely not help you to retain any information. Instead, pretend like you are teaching somebody the information. It may sound weird, but it really works. I have done it before for many tests, and I have gotten good grades with this technique. This is because it uses active recall, which helps to embed the information into your brain much better. Another great strategy is to do practice problems. Practicing what could potentially be on your test can make you actually apply what you have studied, and make you feel more confident when you are taking it. Even though studying is important, make sure you are taking breaks. Your brain will become too overwhelmed if you just study for hours without stopping, which will tire you out. Lastly, make sure to get enough sleep before exams. It will help you to be more focused, and you can help you to recall the information you studied a lot better. Even if you think you may need to keep studying, it is always better to just put your materials away and rest eventually.
You may be set now with all of those study tips, but you may still be wondering how to stay calm and relaxed while taking the exams. They can be very nerve-wracking, and the more nervous you are, the more you overthink, feel overwhelmed, and you may not perform as well. But here are some tips to make you feel better and do better. The first and most important tip is to have a positive mindset. If you tell yourself that you are going to do well and that you will get the grade you want to achieve, that will most likely become a reality. Putting yourself down has a bigger effect on your brain than you may think. It may end up making you do poorly and overthink things. The next thing, you probably have heard many times before, is taking deep breaths. It sincerely works, because it slows down your heart rate, and makes you remain calmer, helping you to remember what you have studied. Another thing you can do is skip problems you may not know, this way you build momentum and make sure you get the things done that you know for sure. This calms you down, knowing that you can come back to it later and the topics may eventually come back to you. The last thing is that finals aren’t the end of the world. You can make mistakes and still be okay. Always try your best, don’t overthink too much and go with your gut for answers. Finals can be long, tiring, and overwhelming, but there are many ways to guide you through them, whether that be study tips or ways to remain calm. Good luck!
