Revisions for Finals

Welcome to December. T-8 days until I graduate!!! And T-21 days until Christmas! I can’t believe the craziest year of my life - who am I kidding - everyone’s life is almost over. I hope and pray that 2021 is an easier year for all of us.

With finals just around the corner, I thought sharing my tips for studying would be a great idea. I know that school, in general, looks a lot different this year with everything being online, but I’m hoping that at least some of my tips will help you guys out! So let’s jump right in. 

No cell phones or laptops

This is self-explanatory. Unless your class is online or you're looking up information for a practice exam or whatnot, you should NOT be on your laptop or cellphone. The more distractions you have, the less you’ll retain. If you need a good app that will reward you AND keep you off your phone, Forest is fantastic. It’s a great timer app with a rewards system. It reminds me a lot of Plant Nanny but for studying and focus.

Music

Studies show that if you play a video game soundtrack when studying, you will retain what you're learning better. This is because video game soundtracks are specifically designed to help you focus. My favourite video game soundtrack is Alice Madness Returns. The music is absolutely gorgeous, and it helps me focus on whatever I'm doing. If you would like to listen to this soundtrack, click here.

Flashcards

I cannot stress how much using flash cards has helped me. In my General Ed Human Biology class, for the lab exams, we had a lot of visuals to memorize, such as the structure, function, location of a stratified cuboidal epithelium (a type of cell that is located in the kidney tubules, ducts and secretory portions of small glands and ovary surface). Its function is secretion and absorption. We also had to know what a stratified cuboidal epithelium looked like on a slide. So I would draw the name of the cell on one side of the flash card, and on the other side, I would write the cell's name, structure, function and location on the other. That really helped me memorize things quickly and well. It was also helpful to use it before the exam as a refresher. I would have ended up with a C instead of an A in my Human Bio class if I hadn't used flash cards.

Scents

In primary school, I read in an American Girl magazine that if you wear a particular scent when studying and then wear the same scent when you take your final exam, you will remember what you studied better. This is primarily true. For it to work, you must consistently study the same subject with the same scent for at least three days before the exam. It doesn't work if you're cramming for the exam the night before. I usually wear whatever perfume I love at that particular time. In the Autumn/Winter, I mainly wear Wrapped in Comfort by Bath & Body Works, and in the Spring/Summer, I wear Hello Beautiful also by Bath & Body Works. Having a candle burning with the same scent as your perfume also works wonders. Scents are super helpful for retention and memory.

Eat before and study right before bed

When I took General Psychology at the local JC, I became good friends with my professor, Dr Laird. We spent the 10 min break and after class talking about psychology. He also gave me lots of study-related tips. One of them was that before you study, you should eat some snack like cheese, crackers, fruit etc. This is to keep you from getting distracted if you get hungry when revising. The more distracted you get from studying, the less you will remember come exam time. He also told me to study right before bed and then go straight to sleep. I don't know the reasoning behind this, but it works well. (Side note: Make sure you sleep well before the exam and eat a healthy balanced breakfast too).

Write in bright colours by hand

When I was a psychology major, there were a lot of key terms to memorize for our exams. I would write the keywords in a bright colour, say pink, and then the definition in black. Highlighting the essential parts of the lecture is very helpful too. Think of it as a textbook. The textbook puts in bold text the crucial things you should know. Highlighting or writing in bright colours works the same way.

Even though all my classes are online, I would handwrite all my notes on my Ipad. There’s something about writing things out by hand that makes it stick better in your brain (pro tip: this also works for memorizing monologues).

I hope this post helped you out in someway. If you enjoyed this post make sure you like, comment, and share. Follow me on social media (listed below) and join my mailing list to be updated about all future posts. As always, sending you all the light and love in this world.