THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM: WHAT SHOULD I DO – DOS AND DONTS – MISTAKES

Whether it’s for the HSC or just a little French speaking exam, there are a few things you can do (and shouldn’t do!) the night before. There’s the obvious ones like eat well and don’t let your studying time eat into your sleeping tmie, but there are a few things you may forget so I’ll just be talking about those ones.

EXERCISE – too much energy is a no no

Let’s face it, you probably are going to be a little nervous the night before an exam (especially if you haven’t prepared well for it) and if you have too much energy left over, you probably still can’t stop your brain from thinking about it when you’re in bed. As we all know, once you can’t fall asleep, you start to become frustrated and it becomes even harder and harder to fall asleep as time goes by. That’s why it’s probably a good idea to do a bit of cardio that night as well, considering you probably may have been sitting down studying the whole day and haven’t expended much energy.

PACK YOUR BAGS THE NIGHT BEFORE – you don’t want to be late or forget things

We all know those times in the morning where we think we can leave the house but we still haven’t packed our bags and we just end up being late to school. This may be fine on a normal day, but you really don’t want to be late for your exams. Furthermore, you may accidentally forget some important things (like your calculator and your notes) when you’re rushing in the morning. Soooo, don’t be lazy and please pack the night before like your momma says.

Only study with a friend if you don’t get distracted easily

If you plan on cramming, it’s probably not that good of an idea to study with a friend if you get distracted easily. You don’t want to force yourself to have to sleep even later at night than you already would. However, if you benefit from working in groups, if you feel they help push you to study more and others are able to stop you from procrastinating, then it probably isn’t a bad idea to invite some friends over to study together. Furthermore, teaching others is also a good way to help improve your own understanding of a concept as well.

Don’t set your alarm as late as possible

It’s best to leave some space for emergencies just in case there’s a traffic jam or your calculator broke (trust me, these things can happen). Instead of sleeping in five minutes later, why not sleep five minutes earlier the night before? Those extra few minutes of cramming probably won’t help you that much compared to getting a better night of sleep.

Jack Zheng | N° 62