Thursday, January 19, 2017

How to Survive Exams 101

  • PLAY WITH PUPPIES! Wear pyjamas and head to SAC this Friday for instant stress relief with your favourite furry friends
  • Think positively
  • Don’t try to cram - space out your study times and include plenty of short breaks
  • Drink lots of water - not only does it flush out all of the nasty toxins in your produced from those stress-eating binges, but it keeps your mind sharp and focused on the task at hand.
  • Eat right
    • Granola bars like Nature Valley, or if you need protein and some energy, try the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut or Peanut Butter Clif Bar
    • Lotsa fruit, try making a smoothie!
    • Reward yourself with some chocolate or chips, but don’t have them nearby when you’re cramming (stress eating is a monster). Try having apple slices with peanut butter, crackers, or pretzels nearby - healthier stress-eating options!
    • Pasta! Just like before a race, load up on healthy carbs a few days before exams to help you power through and ace them all!
  • Listen to the right kind of music
    • Music that you know you will jam out to with your pencil is probably not a good study soundtrack - you’ll get OFF track really easily
    • Instead, try something less catchy, something that you can zone out to. We recommend on Spotify:
      • Indie Pop Chillout
    • And on Apple Music:
      • The Quiet Library Mix
    • Or even if you can find some solid classical music! It may not be trap, rap, or alternative, but it does improve your brain and it’s super good for studying!
  • EXERCISE!
    • Come on out to Fitness Club run by Ms. Caplin next Tuesday for the last one before exams. The workouts are awesome, and they are sure to make you forget about chem, math or physics for 45 minutes.
    • Try some workouts in your room, like this or this or go for a quick jog to release your tense muscles that have been crouching over your desk for hours on end.
    • A good morning or night stress reliever is yoga! Moksha Yoga in downtown Cambridge is offering FREE yoga on Saturdays in January, or you can do this or this at home.
  • Make sure you get lots of sleep. Your brain won’t remember anything that you studied the night before if you didn’t get sufficient sleep. Ms. Ireland always tells her students to put the books down at 9 o’clock - she says that your brain won’t absorb any information past then anyways. It’s better to relax, read a book, watch a TV show, and sleep!
  • Adult colouring books are available in the library, as well as some puzzles, to take your mind off of the pressure
  • Make a To-Do list, and during those weekends or days off of exams, plan out your entire day. Not only will you feel like a boss, you will get way more work done! Just remember to allocate study breaks every hour and a half or so.
  • Take a bath - no, we aren’t trying to insult your hygiene, we just mean to say that somehow, the sensation of submerging yourself in warm water instantly makes you feel like a million bucks.
  • Take a hike - Again, we mean this as nicely as possible. Try spending a study break outside - either take your dog for a walk, or your cat or just yourself!
  • Lots of sleep (ESPECIALLY THE NIGHT BEFORE!) - We get it, procrastination is every high school student’s favourite thing to do. But seriously, cramming the night before helps no one. Ms. Ireland always tells her students that any studying you do after 9pm is pointless. Sleep is the most important part of your pre-exam ritual!
  • Advice from a recent Glenview graduate, who is already experienced in the stress of university exams - “go to a different place than where you usually study. If you study in your room, where you also relax, you are going to get comfortable and get distracted from your work. Instead of studying where you will relax, go somewhere like a library or a coffee shop to get your work done. The atmosphere in those places will subconsciously make you feel more productive, and allow you to get more work done”.

Good luck on all of your exams, Panthers!! You’ll crush it.

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