I went for a pre-course seminar last week, and the message is always on studying consistently in order to do well for the examinations. Come to think of it, ever since I started attending school, no one had taught me how to study. When I was in primary school, my mum revised my work with me everyday, made sure my homework was completed. Despite that, I never really scored well enough in her eyes.
As I went to a higher level, there were more subjects to study. I started struggling, as I had no idea how to handle all the subjects required! And all the subjects needed time, since all the teachers treated their own subjects as if it was the only subject we needed to do!
It became harder to study. I heard from teachers and classmates that studying consistently means to study everyday. But by the time I got home from school, it was already late afternoon, and with all my activities, I found it harder to find time to study all subjects everyday! As a result, there were times I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning and survived on just two to three hours of sleep per day just to study. Now on looking back, I wonder how in the world I managed to survive these days?
When I went on to tertiary institutions, the timetable is more flexible. There were days I need not go to school, and there were days I only needed to attend two hours of lessons. I thought I would have more time to study, but because I chose the easy (or hard?) way out by cramming, I ended up taking more subjects than my peers.
Plus, I did Humanities like English Literature and History, academic subjects, rather than technical subjects like English Language, Mathematics or Geography. So it was a real tough struggle. My friends view me as a real nutcase to take subjects which require voluminous amount of reading and research. But all along I have done this. Ever since I finished secondary school, I have been taking subjects like this - English Literature, History, Law (for a brief period of time). All these subjects require voluminous amount of reading and research.
So it was tough for me to study consistently, especially if that means studying everyday. I did the usual things - note-taking, summarising, etc, but I did not read the notes everyday. I admit that throughout my study years, projects, assignments and research took up so much time that there were days I did not revise the notes at all.
So I started doing "last-minute" work by reading through and revising everything the month before the examinations. A bit too late actually, as I would have lots more to study by then. If I had read through the notes everyday, perhaps it would not be so much of a struggle revising for the examination afterall.
Come to think of it, how in the world I ever survive my student years? Yet the ironic thing is that I cannot wait to go back to school, because I find studying now more fun than working life. I still hate taking examinations though. If I have a choice, I would choose a course that requires full coursework and not examination, but I guess taking examinations is part and parcel of going to school. So if I made it when I was much younger, I believe I can make it now!
As I went to a higher level, there were more subjects to study. I started struggling, as I had no idea how to handle all the subjects required! And all the subjects needed time, since all the teachers treated their own subjects as if it was the only subject we needed to do!
It became harder to study. I heard from teachers and classmates that studying consistently means to study everyday. But by the time I got home from school, it was already late afternoon, and with all my activities, I found it harder to find time to study all subjects everyday! As a result, there were times I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning and survived on just two to three hours of sleep per day just to study. Now on looking back, I wonder how in the world I managed to survive these days?
When I went on to tertiary institutions, the timetable is more flexible. There were days I need not go to school, and there were days I only needed to attend two hours of lessons. I thought I would have more time to study, but because I chose the easy (or hard?) way out by cramming, I ended up taking more subjects than my peers.
Plus, I did Humanities like English Literature and History, academic subjects, rather than technical subjects like English Language, Mathematics or Geography. So it was a real tough struggle. My friends view me as a real nutcase to take subjects which require voluminous amount of reading and research. But all along I have done this. Ever since I finished secondary school, I have been taking subjects like this - English Literature, History, Law (for a brief period of time). All these subjects require voluminous amount of reading and research.
So it was tough for me to study consistently, especially if that means studying everyday. I did the usual things - note-taking, summarising, etc, but I did not read the notes everyday. I admit that throughout my study years, projects, assignments and research took up so much time that there were days I did not revise the notes at all.
So I started doing "last-minute" work by reading through and revising everything the month before the examinations. A bit too late actually, as I would have lots more to study by then. If I had read through the notes everyday, perhaps it would not be so much of a struggle revising for the examination afterall.
Come to think of it, how in the world I ever survive my student years? Yet the ironic thing is that I cannot wait to go back to school, because I find studying now more fun than working life. I still hate taking examinations though. If I have a choice, I would choose a course that requires full coursework and not examination, but I guess taking examinations is part and parcel of going to school. So if I made it when I was much younger, I believe I can make it now!
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