Hello all you beautiful people!
As we know from the millions of adverts on the radio, newspapers, magazines etc. everyday the leaving cert is upon us once again. (So hopefully the leaving cert weather will start to make an appearance soon lol).
I sat my leaving cert last year and honestly taught it was the end all and be all! As an outsider to it all this year no wonder I thought this as the amount of pressure put on students is incredible! It is drilled into all leaving cert students that this is your one chance to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life and if you can't decided now well then that's your future gone... All I have to say to that now is it is total bullshizerr.
Coming out of school you are 18 and the possibilities and ways your life can go are endless!' The world's your oyster' lol.
The course you choose to do is just something you might have an interest in, it doesn't mean this will be your only career option for life. So for now, chill focus on the exams and worry about the future in the future:)
Hopefully my top tips for exam time might help a little...
1. Set Study Alarms.
This really helped me to keep focus leading up to the exams. I would set an alarm for 40 minutes time take a 10 minute break, set another 40 minute alarm and 10 minute break etc...
It is so easy to browse facebook or twitter while you're 'supposed' to be studying so set an alarm on your phone and put it on the opposite side of the room and only get back up when that alarm goes off! lol
You'll be surprised how fast the time will go by and how much you will get done by staying focused! :)
2.Take regular Breaks
I never understood when people said they studied for 4 hours straight. That just sounds awful to me, I couldn't sit in one place for 4 hours without my mind wondering off lol. By taking 10 minute breaks between study and doing something you like such as making a cup of tea and having a snack, checking facebook, reading some of your book, whatever you like really, it will give you something to look forward while studying and also keeps you from getting bored and sick of studying :)
3.Get Creative!
Using all your senses while studying really helps remember things more and keeps it exciting too!
I loved making posters and sticking them up in my room. For example I had a poster of each poet and a spider diagram of their poems with a few brief bullet points. I also recorded myself reading my geography sample answers and listened to them on the bus on the way to the exam. So what ever you think will help you just go for it:) Have a bit of fun!
4.SLEEP!
I know it can be tempting to stay up just one more hour to finish another series of breaking bad but just think, after these exams you will have the entire summer to watch whatever you like:D
When you have a sleep deprived brain and body its hard to concentrate on what you are studying. You can study for 10 hours a day and not learn a thing because you are so tired, or you could study for 3 hours and get so much more info absorbed! Its about quality not quantity!
5.Focus on you
Don't get disheartened by what other people are doing, you are doing fine! A lot of people bluff about how much work they've done but what I always think is if they actually done the work they claimed to do they wouldn't need to brag about it and its probably the only piece of work they've done all year. LOL. So if you have studied and done your homework throughout the year you will be FINE! You can only do your best:)
Some last bit of advice...
- Have faith in yourself that you WILL pass this exam! Self confidence is key. What ever happens happens and you will be ok!:)
- Think positive, if you say you can you can, if you say you can't you can't.
- Sleep well before the exam- I suggest a nice glass of hot milk before bed and not a cup of coffee lol.
- Brain food! The exams are 3 hours long so to keep your brain focused for 3 hours bring in a little snack with you. Some girls brought in kit-kats and mini bars, I brought in dark chocolate which isn't only yummy but is good for the brain too:)
- If you don't know a question straight away skip it and come back to it at the end. Your brain will be working out how to approach it without you realising while you're answering other questions!
Just remember that the result of your leaving cert DOES NOT decide what you do for the rest of your life, you do!
So dream big, anything is possible:)
Good luck!
Xoxo
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