Exams are the most exhaustive sets of draining procedures that a student faces at least twice a year; there is no escape from this vicious trap. Most of the times, unfortunately, owing to whatever reasons, exams don’t go the way we want. What can be done in such cases?
Exams paint a student’s face with grim expressions and usually account for the most horrifying experiences in one’s life. (cue: class 12th Boards.) Nevertheless, students push their limits by pulling themselves out of their comfort zones to study, and that too for weeks straight. They summarise, compile, re-write, learn, and re-learn their notes. They don’t sleep (so to say) and survive almost entirely on caffeine.
Most of the times, unfortunately, owing to whatever reasons, exams don’t go the way we want it. We walk out of the examination room feeling disappointed and dejected, getting into a self-loathing mode. The thought of not performing well in an exam dramatically reduces our productivity and affects our performance in the subsequent examinations too. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to get over a bad exam and we should get out of it as soon as possible.
Firstly, it is imperative that we remain positive throughout that time. Thinking about all the other invaluable knowledge that one gains in the process of learning through continuous reading can help in lessening the brunt. There’s a high possibility that whatever you are reading now will be applied under future circumstances, or you may even get an opportunity to study the same subject in the future. Bad marks don’t define the depth of your knowledge in that particular subject, and it certainly does not measure anyone’s ability to achieve success in their aspired fields. In the long run, nobody even remembers marks.
If the above seems outlandish talk to you, just remember that there are always methods to improve your performance in the next paper. If you have a gut feeling that your answers warrant an F grade, you can appear for the same subject next year. Albeit it would be an added burden, anything is better than being rewarded a ‘back’ in any subject.
However, to arrive at the decision to reappear for any exam, you need to be thoroughly sure of your decision. Just because you think your performance was poor in any exam doesn’t necessarily mean your overall grade average would fall drastically too. For example, in the first semester, if there’s a possibility of scoring low marks in any of the Ability Enhancement Compulsory Courses, your overall marks would not be as severely affected, because the weightage given to AECC subjects is given 4 credits in comparison to 6 for the rest. Moreover, if you score near full marks in your internal examinations, the extent to which your performance in the final exam would affect your overall score would be lessened.
Despite all this, the best way to deal with a poor exam performance is to introspect with an open mind. This is where we give ourselves space to analyze how things could have been done differently. Allow yourself some emotional ‘grieving’ but don’t torture yourself. Expect to feel measures of anger, disappointment, despair or nonchalance, but move on from each stage. The time has passed, it’s best to box-up that experience and be hopeful about the future.(i.e by putting in greater efforts in subsequent papers!)
Feature Image Credits: The Odyssey
Sandeep Samal
