CHANGE

EP-04

|| hello lovelies. Hope you are doing well and are safe ||

In the last chapter, we discussed physical appearance, overcoming self-doubt, working on ourselves, and solved some misconceptions

In this chapter, we will discuss another one of the factors, i.e, academic appearance, or way of studying. Sometimes, we work hard and yet we don't get the results we expected and get disappointed and lose hope. I, myself, am not that experienced in this case; but I will share what I have learned and discovered in my life about studies, gaining marks, and way of studying. Let's go.

Academic appearance is basically the way we are academically, i.e, schoolwise, regarding studies. Even though nowadays, marks don't matter that much as they did in the past, but still there is a certain percentage required in examinations or competitions to get selected ad make our lives. Some say that marks don't matter, one can make his/her life successful without getting the tag of getting high marks; while some say that marks do matter a lot. According to me, marks just act as a bridge between us and opportunities. If you participate in any competitions, you would know that to get selected, you have to score a certain percentage, which is called cut off, in the written examination, and only then will you be passed on to the next level. So I can say that marks do matter, not a lot, but they do; they have their own importance. Most of the successful people indeed are those who dropped out of college or failed in high schools. But on average, not all people can get so successful without any information or knowledge. And those who are, those who have done so, was due to their interest in that particular subject and they discovered and acknowledged themselves, they are not illiterate or know less, they are those who have taught themselves. Not all can do the same, but if you can, congrats! However, here I am talking about all, regarding most people, not some people. So marks do matter.

To obtain marks, we have to ace the examination, and to do this one must understand the concepts of the given topics. If you understand the topics thoroughly then surely you will be able to answer the questions and thus ace the exam. So, let's talk about how to understand the topics thoroughly.

The first step is to read. Read the topic at a slow pace and after the end of every topic, close the book and speak to yourself about the topic (the best place to speak to yourself is in front of a mirror), see how much you recall. You don't need to remember everything, just read and this will help you to get the idea of what the topic is about.

The second step is to explain the topic to yourself. Just like the teacher teaches you, teach yourself as if there is a student in front of you. record yourself whenever you each yourself and listen to the recording whenever you are free. This will help you to understand the topic better because we tend to understand the topic well when we are teaching someone.

The third step is to make notes. We tend to remember more of what we write than what we say/read. Try to make the notes in your own words so that it is easier to understand (or from the book, it's your choice).

The fourth step is to revise whenever we can. Try to listen to the recording or read the notes every day or alternate days so that you don't forget what you studied.

The fifth step is to question what you understood. From every topic, you read, make notes and understand; frame questions. There are 5 W's which are who, what, when, which, and how (well it has a w so it can be included as well). See how these 5 W's can be fit and frame the questions as many as possible from the topics. This will help you to have a better understanding of how the questions can come.

The sixth step is one of the most important which is to be consistent. Consistency is the key. If you study 5 hours a day and then don't study and then study after 2-3 days again for 4-5 hours then this is not helpful. It is better to study one hour a day but keep it constant, i.e, study every day for one hour. 

I know that it is not as easy as it is to read, but consistency is the key and there is a saying that goes like " hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard" so keep thriving and going ahead. Remember, failures are not losers, losers are those who give up. So, take a break when you are tired but never give up. And, you have a lot of assumptions about you to break, so keep working hard, you have got it. We have discussed how to understand the topic thoroughly so now, let's see how to ace the exams.

If you are not speedy enough, then there are chances that you might not have enough time to complete the questions so, practice every day to speed up your writing. To have a better understanding of the topics and how the questions can be framed and come. You can use practice papers, old test papers, old examination papers, practice daily with them. Do less, but do daily. This will help you to get prepared on a competitive level. Also, try to make notes attractive by using colorful pens, making flowcharts, and try making bullet points rather than paragraphs, this will help you to store the topics' information more clearly and vividly. The other thing that you can do is by making yourself a test paper every weekend. Just solve the test paper and you can have the whole weekend off. Hence, you will be able to enjoy as well as ace the examinations.

Another thing that you can do to have a better understanding and have a better speed is by studying in a group (here I mean actual study, not fun study) and compete how many test papers all of you can complete in a certain time. This will help you to check your speed and level of understanding from time to time. If there is anything your other friend cant understand, help them, don't feel shy, explaining the topic to others will help you to be able to express your answers accurately.

|| this is it. This is the end of the chapter, hope you get some tips and tricks and also get inspired :). If you like this chapter, click the star button to vote and you can also comment down what else should I write about :) ||