by Holly Briggs
You may be beginning your midterms this week or next week. For some, the first ones have already happened. This first midterm is a big deal! If you completely bomb it, that’s okay but you need to study hard for the next one. If you want to ace it here are some strategies and tips that I have learned to live by while filling my brain with unbelievable amounts of information.
Tip #1: Identify what confuses you, and fix it. Something that is really helpful when there is so much daunting information is to sit down and find out what you don’t know. Once the things that are confusing have been identified you can use resources around campus to help you solve them. Some resources are all the different holes around campus. Mole hole for chemistry, vole hole for biology, there is also a physics and math help center. Obviously a great resource is your professor! Attend their office hours and ask them what they meant when they were teaching something. Meeting with a professor gives you an opportunity to get the help you need but also to make the connections that could be useful later for things like letters of recommendation.
Tip #2: Don’t cram. No matter how hard you don’t want to study right now, start studying. Its been proven over and over again, the more times you practice and see information the better you are at remembering it. That means that if you study little bits at a time over a long period of time, like a week, you will have a better chance of remembering information for the exam!
Tip #3: Find friends, study groups, or review sessions. I have always found it helpful to study with other people because if I have questions they might know the answer. It is also helpful because teaching the subject to another person is a fantastic way to study the material and make sure that you know it very well. Most professors for larger classes will hold review sessions a couple of nights before the exam; this is a great opportunity to get help and to receive more study materials.
Tip #4: Stay healthy. Do not throw all your eating habits out the window because you are spending all your time couped up in a room with a can of red bull and some potato chips. Make sure you are eating fruits and vegetables as well as exercising. Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and to help improve brain function. Eating healthy and sleeping regularly will also help fend off any sort of cold or flu that may be coming your way. No one likes to take an exam with the sniffles!
Tip #5: Take a break. Studying continuously for 12-hours will do nothing but make you go insane. Take 10-15 minutes to yourself on go kick around a soccer ball or take a walk. Doing something active will keep you awake and stimulate your brain. Whatever you do though, stay away from Facebook, Yik-Yak or any of those other brain-mesmerizing social media sites.
Good luck on those tests, and SCOOO BEAVS.
