Ace that exam

-
Exam days are the scariest thing for all college students. These long-winded tests pop-up, what seems like, out of nowhere just to scare you into focusing more in class. The scariest is the very first exam for a new class. “Why not final exams?” most people will ask. Finals aren’t actually scary because you have practiced that teachers method of testing and can be prepared. The very first exam is like falling over a ledge and hoping a net will catch you.

Don’t be too afraid though, there are ways to be ready for this unknown. I am here to give you four tips to help you ace that exam.
Take detailed notes
Starting from day one of class focus on the lectures the professor gives. Keeping track of important topics and even the most prevalent topics during this section of the class will give you something to look back on when studying.
Use colored pens, detailed charts and some highlighters to make the very important details stand out clearly. If writing/typing isn’t a strong suit for you, ask the professor for permission to voice record classes to take notes from later or even listen back on for information.
Find a study buddy
Studying alone is always helpful when it comes to being focused on articles, books or writing papers but when it comes to studying for exams having a friend who is also in the class can help add to the information already known.
The buddy may have something in their notes that you seemed to have missed on a certain day in class, or even have a new way of studying you never thought to try. Plus, a study buddy can help keep morale high during those late study session.
Study in an organized area
Attempting to focus in a messy space is just a recipe for disaster. A messy space has many things that can cause a distraction from what you are actually trying to spend time on. Create a dedicated spot to do homework and study and keep it clean and decluttered to help focus.

If it is hard to keep spaces in your room clean, head to the library. It is the most important resource on campus and it allows certain levels of silence and distraction level. Also if you need to be completely alone the ONU library offers study cubbies that give you a small silent room.
Take regular breaks
Try and break up studying for the exam into days and even hours. Taking a break every 25 minutes is beneficial to help mentally soak in the information you just learned and to prepare to learn more. Giving yourself a 5-15 minute break every 25 minutes can really benefit studying habits.
That doesn’t mean staring at your computer/phone screen any longer. It means reading a few pages in a book you enjoy, a quick 5-minute meditation or even taking a short walk to stretch and clear your mind.
Following these tips can help you come prepared to ace that first exam and continue to ace every exam after that. Did I miss any really special study tips that could help me out?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stuck at home for spring break

-
Spring break for college students is always an interesting time of the year. As students, we are as broke as a person can be, yet we still plan crazy expensive trips to Florida each spring break. I am very broke and also have very broke friends so each year I spend spring break in cold, dreary Ohio. Each year I make the most out of my spring breaks and choose to do fun, but inexpensive activities throughout the week. Here are my top 3 favorite things to do when stuck in Ohio. 1.  Axe throwing I know this sounds kind of dangerous. It is such a great experience and it 100% safe. I went to Class Axe in Cincinnati. It was about $32 dollars per person to go and you can have up to 12 people in your lanes. You learn fun little games that give you chances the throw the axes all the time. It gets your adrenaline pumping because you want to win the game for your team. I almost was my lanes ultimate champ, no big deal. You get to choose a fun ‘axe’ name instead of having a real name a
Read more

Learning to feed the content monster

-
Image
Social media is a great tool and I’ve been using it ever since my mom let me get facebook when I was maybe 12 years old. Which now that I think about it is too young to be on the internet with a public profile. My facebook still has embarrassing photos of me from 7th grade I swear. In my social media principles class, we are reading a book by Guy Kawasaki called, The Art of Social Media . I’ve only read the first three chapters so far, but each page is beyond insightful. One of my favorite sections is about “feeding the content monster” which is exactly what blogging is like. Finding content, creating said content, and making it interesting enough that those viewing it don’t click away. That may seem easy but it really isn’t. The most useful tip in chapter two for me is the idea of creating an editorial calendar. This is essentially a map of what content to post when, where, why, and to whom. Kawasaki himself is not a huge fan of mapping content out in an editorial calendar bu
Read more

When will he jump the fence?

-
I have an earlier blog talking about the Bachelor’s social media and I am going to write another one. ABC is so smart in how they choose to market their audience. All Bachelor fans love the added drama to the season, plus a good tease. This season they tease Colton jumping over a fence and losing his mind. This happened in the very first in January. It is not March and they are just now saying it will be aired on this episode. People have been making joke Twitter accounts constantly tweeting if he’ll jump the fence. People are creating content focused around this 10 second clip in general. It is crazy how such a little thing was marketed so well. The fence fiasco is giving the show so much good publicity. Millions of people who know what the Bachelor actually is are tweeting, creating Facebook memes and event posting stuff on Instagram about the stupid fence. I am not usually one to get sucked into the madness but even I’m excited to see why Colton Underwood jumps the fence! I have
Read more