Students’ Speak: Make informed and wise decisions about your future

By: Donika Juthani

The exam being tough and your mind going blank are the best excuses for someone who did not revise properly. You might have prepared 80 percent of the portion or even 95 percent. But what about the rest?

The minute you leave your exam hall after completing the examination, there would be hundreds of thoughts coming into your mind. All your friends would be standing in groups and discussing the question paper. You might be one of them and you might be a topper who has got all the answers correct. Well, in that case, your emotional state is balanced, you would be feeling confident and you might start studying for the next exam with a big smile on your face. But just remember one thing- you might have won the battle but your goal is to win the war. Don’t relax and consider all the upcoming exams as your first exam. But what if your exam did not go well?

Let me discuss personal experience. I was in 12th class and it was the first monthly test in my coaching classes. I had performed very well in the 11th class and so I was a part of the star batch. My professors had high expectations, my mathematics teacher was my mentor and he had encouraged me and guided me throughout the 11th class. For the first test, I had to get good marks because I had to prove myself in front of all the teachers and students. I had solved all the exercises of the chapters, I had discussed all the doubts and was confident before the exam. After the two hours test, I realised many of my answers were wrong. I could not sleep that night. The thought of me letting down my mentor ate me up. I didn't even tell my parents about how the exam went.

Don’t doubt your abilities

The result came out the next day itself and I came second last (49th rank). The other girl was among the top 10. I had never gone below 10th rank ever before. After seeing the result, I could not think anything, my mind went blank. I was early in the class that day and only a few students were present in the class. My maths teacher came in the class with an obvious stare on his face. I could not look at him in the eye, I was about to cry. I thought I didn’t belong in the star batch. I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the lecture. After the lecture was completed, the maths teacher called me outside and asked a simple question - “What happened” and all I answered was - “I don’t know.”. To this, he said - “You always know.” and that was true, even though I had prepared well, I got intimidated by the bright children around me, doubted myself, I was so involved in proving myself that I had lost the focus from preparation.

Before the next exam, I sat with him, prepared a strategy, and worked twice as hard, solved questions from three different books. And guess what? I ranked fifth. If the thoughts of me not belonging to the batch had not left, I could never have been able to perform well. But my mentor understood what I was going through and helped me with it.

So, I would suggest you take help, share your fears with the right person, overcome your guilt, work hard and you will succeed. Coming fifth was not exactly a success because the main goal was to clear JEE. But winning small battles give the confidence to win the war. Well, losing small battles don’t mean you will lose the war and this is exactly what you need to remember when you fail. It is fine to feel the guilt and cry but it is not fine to let that affect your next exams. You might start doubting your capabilities but the sooner you come out of that stage, the better.

Do not discuss the paper after the exam is over

You might have an irresistible urge to discuss all the questions with your friends and also tally your answers from the book. But, you should never do this because take, for example, today was your board exam and you came out of the examination hall happy and satisfied with your performance. You start discussing the paper with your friend and realise that it didn’t go as expected and you made mistakes in 2-3 questions. What happens now?

• Your mood is down.
• You start thinking about covering up in the next exam.
• You worry about your result.
• Compare yourself with your friend.

All these thoughts paralyse you so just stay away from them. Anyone who asks about the exam just nod your head and say - “It went well”, doesn’t matter if it really went well or not. Do not get demotivated for your next exam and use the preparation time effectively.

To divert your mind and think positive, consider the following:

• First of all, do not let regret hit you. Grab a peaceful corner, sit quietly and do not think about the question paper. What is done is done. Accept the fact that you won’t be able to change anything. Don’t keep counting the marks you will lose because in most cases, you are exaggerating. You might know the official marking scheme. Professors who examine papers might check leniently. The marks you get might be way higher than what you think. Only a fool obsesses over something that's rushed out within hours of the exam. So, move on and don't look at it.
• Take a short nap because sleep can make your mind forget everything and when you wake up, you will feel fresh, you would be able to organise your thoughts and start your preparation for the next exam. As long as you are stuck with the thoughts of the previous exam not going well, you will never be able to focus on the next one creating a domino effect and spoiling all the further exams.
• If you need to talk, then share your thoughts with your parents because they will understand and motivate you. I did not say friends because as mentioned in the movie 3 idiots - “khud fail ho to dukh hota hai par agar dost first aa jaye to aur bhi zyada dukh hota hai”. If your friend only brags about how well his exam went, you might feel more guilty and depressed. Your parents will talk to you without judging you. They might get a little upset with your low performance but they are the only ones who have your best interest at their heart.
• See motivating videos or read some positive stuff. This will boost your confidence and also divert your mind from the guilt. Talk to yourself about all the positive stuff like- “I will give my best for the next exam” or “I want to succeed in the next exam”. This way, you will kick out the guilt from your mind and there will be space for the things you can change. You should tell yourself to stop pondering over the things you can’t change. If you have a practice of meditating, do that. It will relax your mind and organise your thoughts. But if you do not have the practice of meditation, do not try it now because then, the unwanted thoughts will remain in your brain for all the five minutes of the meditating period which is a waste.
• Watch a short episode of your favourite series. You might think this is a waste of time and you would end up binge-watching for hours. Well, I am telling you to watch something fun and not for more than 30 minutes. When you are happy, you will be motivated to do anything. Hence, it is important to make yourself happy. This way, you boost your enthusiasm and prepare your brain to concentrate on what’s next.
• Exercise can also help you divert your mind. When you exercise, the heart pumps oxygen into the brain. It will provide a nourishing environment for the growth of brain cells. Running has antidepressant effects which are exactly what you need. Hence, sweat out your negativity and let the positivity enter your body.

When your brain is clear of all the thoughts, shift your focus from calculating the marks you have lost to the topics you need to revise for the next exam. This is obviously easier said than done. Now, let’s talk about how your exam can go bad. Following are the five ways:

• You already know that your exam isn’t going to be good because you were not prepared.

This case is the easiest to resolve because you already know mistakes and so, you can resolve them. I would advise you to sit quietly in a corner and analyse your study pattern, make a time table (long term as well as short term), follow it strictly and gear up for the next exam. Tell yourself to study hard, leave nothing, and revise all the topics as many times as you can. Be prepared with all the stationary. Give as many test papers as you can and improve your mistakes. Most importantly, do not repeat the strategy that led you to perform poorly the first time. Give your everything and work hard. You will definitely be successful this time.

• You have prepared well, but the exam was tough and your mind turned blank due to nervousness and you realise that you are not doing well during the exam itself.

The exam being tough and your mind going blank are the best excuses for someone who did not revise properly. You might have prepared 80 percent of the portion or even 95 percent. But what about the rest? Take time to know what you left out. If the revision is done completely, you would have the confidence to crack any question. Do not hide behind excuses and then cry about failing. Face the truth, know your strengths and weaknesses, analyse the schedule for the next exam and start your preparation with complete honesty.

• You are fully prepared, you remember everything, but after coming out of the exam hall, you realise you made silly mistakes and your answers were wrong.

You might be a little confused, irritated by yourself, and sunk in the ocean of guilt. But just remember, no mistake is silly. Every mistake is as important. Work twice as hard and you will succeed this time.

• It was the last exam.

Usually, the student is tired by the time he/she gives the last exam. So, the preparation is affected by how you performed in the previous exams as well as the excitement of finishing the exams. Even if all the previous went well, do not be overconfident. Have the right attitude and study with as much dedication as you did initially.

• It was just one and very important exam for your career.

This is a very critical case. People tend to lose their patience, go into depression, think about ending their lives, etc. Please just remember one thing- marks in exams don’t always equal intelligence or brilliance. Many opportunities might come your way in the future, there will be plenty of exams, and you will find your area of excellence. You might be feeling worthless. You might be feeling the pressure of society and parents, but neglecting all the negative thoughts and picking yourself up is what is required right now. You cannot let the feeling of guilt engulf you, you have to concentrate on what’s next. Try talking to your parents about the reasons for your failure, take advice from successful people and be open to different career choices. Don’t let yourself fall into the abyss from where it would be very difficult to get back up.

Have patience and wait for the results

The most important thing is to have patience and wait for the results. Maybe you were overthinking, maybe your friends influenced your mind into thinking that you will fail, maybe you didn’t do that bad after all. You will know all this only if you wait for the results to come out. You might waste the entire time worrying and stressing about how bad your exam went and imagining the worst possibilities only to find out your result was pleasantly great.

The definition of failure is different for everyone. Try and channel your energy into productive activities. After your results come out, make informed and wise decisions about your future and that time you will realise that overthinking the worst-case scenarios didn’t help you even a little. I hope these tips help you move forward from a bad exam and make the most of all the exams left.

About the Author:

Donika Juthani is an experienced team leader and ML enthusiast. Skilled in Python, HTML, CSS, and MySQL, she is a student of B.Tech in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAI-ICT) and also, a member of the Programming Club.