My last ever exam at Cardiff University is tomorrow and like a huge idiot, I've left the majority of my revision until today, which I never do. I don't know why this year is different but I haven't had any motivation towards uni work. I guess it has stuff to do with the great emotional upheaval that has been taking hold of my family for the last 12 weeks but I know that hasn't been the whole excuse. I've just not cared, which is really really bad.
Here is what I am going to do today to cram the day before my exam...
1. Have a filling breakfast.
One, it wakes you up; two, it gives you brain power and three, if you're full up less time will be taken by feeling hungry and needing to stop working to eat. Unfortunately, I only have toast so I hope that can get me through a couple of hours.
2. Organise how you are going to cram.
For my course, because I'm a nerd and pay attention to lectures, I generally know all the information that has been given to me during the semester. I only have to look over it once and I have my successful "yep, I know all that" face on. But regurgitating the lectures notes does not get you high marks and so I look for loads more references for each topic that I have found on my own to put in. These, in my eyes, are the most important and so I always set aside plenty of time to be able to recall these verbatim. They hopefully pull up my mark from waffling crap to this isn't half bad.
3. Read, cover, recall and check.
The magical way that you learnt when you were about 5 actually does work. I sit with my paper, read them all, and then try and recall them. Slowly but surely, after however many times you do this, it does stay in your head and that's the most important thing. It's tedious, yes but it's effective and you don't have time to worry about making things exciting because you're a doughnut who left things to the last minute.
4. Take ten minutes of your time and question your life choices.
I always end up with the same line by the end of the cramming day and sometimes multiple times a day. "I'll do better next year..." - this, however, doesn't help the sticky situation you have gotten yourself into today. The amount of times I have questioned my lack of motivation is beyond me; I always end up kicking myself and I hate it. This could also be a step called "rock back and forth in the corner for 10 minutes." Either/or, I don't mind.Recognise how much of a huge idiot you are for not starting earlier, and then move on because there's no point wasting away the last day of revision with things you can't control or go back and change.
5. Go back and reread everything.
No matter how many times you tell yourself you know it, you still need reminding. It's important to keep going back over stuff to reinforce your short term and long term memory to create a stronger mental pathway that will make it easier to access the information in the exam. It's all about giving yourself the best chance and so spend the whole day going over and over stuff you know as well as the stuff you don't know.
6. Fist pump when you manage to remember all that you wanted to.
It's always an achievement when you set yourself what seems to be an impossible deadline and then you go and surprise yourself by completing it. You deserve the fist pump for how hard you worked. It may not have been the best way to revise, but you make it work and sometimes the pressure of having no other choice helps us to work harder than if we had spent a week here and there revising.
I hate this day but I can't change it, I'm going to try my best and know that even if I don't do as well as I could, given the circumstances I tried. My family are proud of me for sticking to uni during these hard, emotional times and I'm proud of myself. I lost my Grandad and I'm still trying my hardest to achieve when all I want to do is be at home, crying for my Grandad to come back.
Have a wonderful Wednesday and I shall talk to you tomorrow when I am a free woman from the prison shackles that is University.
Love you all,
xxx
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