Exam Stress

Last Sunday I tutored my niece for a couple of hours, although I was more like a study buddy. She was studying for Further Maths and the last time I studied maths was some statistics in uni for my Psych major. We sat at my dining table, her working on the prac exam and me reading the solutions provided, so I could prompt or guide her when she got stuck.

Watching someone I care about study hard and feel stressed made me think about exams in general and all the things I want to say to my students each year in the SWOTVAC period and just before they head into their exams...

1. Make a choice.

Realise that your results will mostly be a reflection of your choices. You are not passive. You are not a victim of exams. You are not powerless. Make a choice. Preferably make it a good choice. 

Choose to be interested.

"I'm bored" is the single most boring thing anyone can ever say. Have you ever met someone really intriguing? Really exciting? Really charismatic and a lot of fun to be around?

I bet they weren't bored. Bored people are boring. 

Choose to pay attention, focus your brain and try to understand. If you understand, you're much more likely to remember. 

Make that choice while you are studying. You do not need to love a subject in order to pay attention, work hard and do well at it. 

Make that choice in the exam. Stop. Take a breath. Read the information slowly. Roll it around in your head for a bit and try to make sense of it. Then give it your best shot.

Blank pages do not get marks. Trying gets marks. Try to eke out as many marks as you can.

2. It's never too late, until it is. 

Until the exam supervisors say "pens down" you still have a chance. Read carefully. Review your work. Edit your work. Have a crack.

And then, when it's over. Let it be over. Don't talk about the exam with every person you know. Don't dissect it question by question. Let it go. (Sorry having a Frozen moment here)

If you did your best be proud of that. Put a big mental tick next to that exam, give yourself a reasonable period to celebrate and then focus on the next one.

If you tried your best, but stuffed it up, let it go. You did all you could. We all make mistakes. Sometimes we make stupid mistakes. Work out if there is anything you can learn from it. And then move on. Life's too short to worry about the past. 

If you didn't try your best and it went well - you're lucky, you may not be next time. Or, you're delusional. Enjoy that.

If you didn't try your best and it didn't go well. Focus on what you can control- the here and now. Make your next exam better than the last one.

3. You're a member, not a number.

Who are you? Tell me about you.

Think about it. How would you answer me? 

As well as telling me your name you might tell me something about your cultural, religious or ethnic background. You might tell me about the family you belong to or club you're a member of. You might make reference to key relationships in your life.

What I am hoping you would not say is:

"I am an ATAR of 67.2" or of 99.97 for that matter. 

Your ATAR is just a number.

It's based on less than 12 months of your life. It's based on a curriculum that someone, somewhere thought was
a) somewhat important
b) required some level of hard work
c) was easy enough to assess
d) would help universities decide who should get to do which course

It is not a reflection of who you are. It doesn't tell me if you're kind, compassionate, funny, clever, generous, persistent, resourceful or creative. 

An ATAR is useful if you want to go to university, but not essential. People will ask you about it from December, when it's released, until March at the latest. Then it becomes an irrelevant number, like how much you weighed at birth.

The people who love you will still love you, no matter what that number is.

The people who don't love you, don't matter. 

Good luck for your exams.

But, more importantly, good luck at life. Good luck at being a good human being.

That matters a hell of a lot more.