Never do this in an exam if you don't want to fail.
Just like an athlete preparing properly for an important game or race, it’s up to you as a student to prepare yourself adequately for any exam. It’s important that you are in a healthy and ready body, physically and mentally. You should be in sound state of mind so that you can do your absolute best in the examination.
Clearly, what you do on this day can make or break your grade. What goes down in the examination hall could even affect your life forever. There has been cases of students who committed suicide after failing an important exam, there are some who drop out of school as a result of difficulty to pass a particular course.
Following are seven (7) wrong doings you must not do or stop doing if you must pass examinations colourfully:
Taking a nap few minutes before the exam
A lot of students fall victim and miss vital tests and exam papers by doing this. As much as overnight reading is important for effective reading, do not do it the night before your exam. It will make your body yarn for rest in the morning. Night Reading holds secrets to improve health and well-being. Nights are almost quiet and peaceful with less buzz and distractions as compared to the daytime when the human activities and noises are quite high. Because of this you can focus better and read without much distraction but avoid it the night before your exam. A little Nap few minutes before your exam as a result of overnight reading could be disastrous, you might wake up minutes after the examination had been concluded.
2. Arriving late at the examination venue:
Most people do not know that examination starts the actual day the timetable is rolled out, it has started the day you start preparation. How you prepare mentally and physically then decides what happens in the hall and the result thereafter. Nothing is more stressful to the proctor, the examiners, and yourself than arriving late. Allow time for traffic and unexpected delays so that you can arrive at the testing location with time to spare. This allows you to get comfortable with your surroundings and calm down before you embark on the exam. You also don’t want to end up wasting your money by being late and not being able to take the exam at all.
3. Panicking:
Fear is the greatest enemy of success. so many people innocently fall into trouble in the middle of an examination while panicking, panicking and shaking makes the exam invigilators suspect you. Do whatever you can to stay calm. Breathe deeply, Get rid of that nervous energy. If your stress level spins out of control, your brain will stop functioning. What I'm implying is, panicking will cause you more harm than good because you can even forget all that you have learn, when faced with an exam paper, it is easy to panic, especially if it is your first time and if your first reaction is that you are unable to answer any of the questions. Take a deep breath and count to ten, slowly. That will help you to calm down. Remember that you will get no marks if there is nothing written on your answer paper.
It sounds obvious, but it is important to provide some answers, even if they are not very good. Even if you are really struggling, you should be able to find one question that you can answer, or make a reasonable attempt to answer. Start with that, and when you have finished it, go through the same process again. Do not be tempted to leave halfway through the exam, because you cannot think of anything else to write. That will earn no marks at all.
4. Not reading the question properly or Wanting to answer a slightly different question:
Always read the question fully. Then go back and read it again to check that you have understood. Only then should you start to answer it, once you are sure you have understood it fully. Some students prepare set answers, either because they are doing practice questions, or because they have panicked and not left enough time to revise fully. If you have done this, there is a tendency to use your prepared answer and hope that you will get enough marks for doing so You won’t. Examiners are looking for evidence that you can think and work under pressure, not that you can learn an essay off by heart. The real answer to this mistake is to ensure that you have learned your subject well, and read around it. There is no substitute for plenty of time spent revising. This will enable you to respond to any question in a more considered way. By all means do practice answers, and draw on these in your exam, but make sure that you answer the question that has been asked and not the question you wanted.
5. Bringing strange and unauthorized external material to the exam hall:
I often tell my kids to check the surroundings of their exam seat before starting the exam and report any strange material or papers lying around. There have been cases where a physics exam had been conducted previously in an exam hall before chemistry and an invigilator caught a student sitting on physics material while writing chemistry. Despite much begging, the student was walked out of the examination. Possessing strange and unauthorized material in an examination hall is regarded as a deliberate wrong doing contrary to official examination rules. Check your pocket before going in, you might have forgotten some revision note in your pocket. No one would believe your innocence when it is found.
6. Do not leave compulsory questions unanswered:
So many students jump at the questions immediately they see the questions they are expecting or have studied for without reading the instruction. Some examination instruction mostly goes thus ''answer any three questions, number 1 is compulsory'' this shows that question number 1 carries the highest mark and failure to attempt it could rubbish the rest of your efforts.
7. Forgetting to sign the examination attendance sheet:
So many students rush into the exam, rush all through the writing and rush out without signing the exam attendance sheet. Failure to sign in and out of the attendance sheet is equivalent to not writing the exam at all despite brilliantly writing the exam. Not signing the examination attendance sheet could mean your script was written somewhere and smuggled into the examination officers bag. Not signing the examination attendance sheet could mean you did not appear for the examination at all. So many students wonder why they fail some papers or have incomplete result in the examination, most of this may be due to lack of proper signing of the examination attendance sheet.
In conclusion, put God first and over everything you do as you prepare and write. Preparing certain things the night before an exam can help distress and slow down your morning to allow yourself to wake up and get ready with ease and peace of mind. Things to prepare the night before should be, first and foremost, your writing materials. Sharpen your 4-6 wooden HB pencils, have your pens (2pieces, in case one stop working in the middle of the exam) calculator ready. That way you know that you have them, you know where they are, and you know that they’re ready. Also allow yourself to get enough sleep, which is probably more than you usually get. Keep in mind that if you’re generally running late in the morning, set your alarm(s) for a few minutes earlier to allow yourself that extra buffer of time so that you’re not feeling rushed. Go to bed full and well-hydrated.
Tests and examinations are taken seriously and they should be treated rightly so. Prepare yourself properly for these important mornings so that you don’t fall short of your full capability. Following the above steps can help you achieve a more successful examination. Remember, always put God above every other thing and do the best of your own part too.