HOW I MOVED FROM A FAIL TO A PASS FOR AS(history)

It’s that time of the year again. Where you have to start prepping for examinations. They say it’s never too early or too late to start. It can get a little bit discouraging as the year progresses but don’t worry you can always get up. Don’t give up.

After receiving my mock exam results I felt as though it was over for me. I had about 2 months till my exams started and here I am getting a U. to make matters worse we kept getting assignments and I was still getting low marks. One day my friend and I went to collect our history teacher and it so happened we had written an exercise so he gave us back our books, now it’s about a month till the exam. I cried, I had failed yet again.

At this point I felt as though I was just wasting money. I even asked him what I did wrong and everything, I did everything my friend said I should do but nothing worked. I only scratched a few marks but not enough. He said to me ‘Ano you will pass, you will do great in that exam’ I looked at him like are you serious look at these marks. But I kept trying studying and praying and here I am with a C that I am grateful off. Now how did I do it?

For me its definitely not sleepless nights, tried that during GCSEs and it didn’t work out. It’s normal. However my brain seems to work early in the morning and after school from about 7-9 then that’s it if I am pushing it till 10 after that it shuts down. KNOW YOUR STUDY TIMES.

 

THE STUDY SESSION.

•   The first thing I did was pray before any study session. This helped me focus on what I would be reading about.
•   Make sure you have a clean table, working area this helps you not get distracted.
• I had a water bottle. I read somewhere that it refreshes your brain. And must I say every time I did drink my water when I felt as if it was too much information, I felt refreshed.

Well clearly these 3 steps didn’t make me get the grade. However what did was that I used past papers. Usually when people use these, it’s to test their knowledge. I did it a little differently. I would get a particular question, write down in my notebook, and start to write the points that will help answer the question. If I see that there is more I don’t know about, this is when the textbook comes in handy. I would read the topic again and try understand what is going on. Even if it meant starting from the beginning. The mistake we make is that we just want to look for the part that answers the question. But it’s not it. You have to know and understand your topic in and out. You can watch videos if that helps you. 

N.B not everyone’s study technique works for you. It’s a matter of time till you find the one that works well for you. For example I can’t stand seeing highlighters on my notes, so I avoid using them when I study. Is they were already there, cause who doesn’t want a pretty notebook to show off. I use pencil to underline my key points again as I study. It totally helps me.