Under Pressure

Sweaty palms? Check. Irregular heartbeat? Check. Shortness of breath? Check. Yes, that’s right, May has reached us and this means only one thing, hop aboard for the exam rollercoaster. But before you jump out of the carriage, get back under the safety bar because this ride, I assure you, has a happy ending.

Like any good rollercoaster, the route to exams begins surprisingly smoothly and uneventful, full of unthwarted expectation. So, you’ve got the timetable and you’ve spent about a week writing out an intricate (colour-coded) revision timetable but as the days fly by (and the timetable gathers dust), your good
intentions fall by the wayside.

This is the first mistake of exam preparation: the confounding human compulsion to set ourselves grossly inflated targets which are hopelessly unachievable from the start. Just like the twists and turns of the unpredictable fairground ride, the build up to the exam period cannot be mapped out like a military attack plan. As we all know, some days the motivation to spring out of bed is non-existent and the impulse to check your Facebook profile is simply unavoidable.

What is most important is not to waste time worrying about missing your targets but rather focus on what you have done and what still needs to be completed. Be realistic about what you can achieve in a day; planning and organisation is a crucial part of the revision process but building mountains that are impossible to climb will only make you tumble down more quickly.

The key to survival and success in the revision stakes is BALANCE. It is this phenomenon which saves the thrill-seeker from plummeting to his death on Nemesis, and it will save you from going crazy until the first post-exams party. Has anyone ever told you that you can never have too much of a good thing? Well, they are wrong. We all need a little variety in our lives and this time of the year is no exception.

The good news is that at one end of the tightrope are all the finer things in student life: lie-ins, happy hour and daytime TV – but at the other are all the things we love to hate like essays, exams and work in general. So it’s a case of a little from Column A and a little more from Column B with an F for food, an E for exercise and an S for sleep which will hopefully lead to a D for degree. As any good Stress Less leaflet will tell you, your body and mind are like a well-honed machine which needs the right fuel and maintenance to succeed. However, don’t feel guilty for taking time out. Every successful machine needs a break now and then and yours needs one regularly.  Remember, you need this motor to run for the rest of your life; don’t burn out yet.

When the build-up is over and the climax of this educational rollercoaster looms the greatest fear that is faced by the student and thrill-seeker alike is the fear of the unknown factor. Don’t let your desire to obsess over Mystic Meg style predictions of what the questions will be destroy your sanity or cloud your vision.

Whether an anxious fresher or a seasoned fourth year, we are none of us strangers to the examination game; we may not know exactly what we face but we’ve faced this situation before and emerged intact. In truth, exams are a large part of the success that has got us to this Cathedral-shadowed city and there is no reason why our experience should desert us now.

Unfortunately, irrational fear is not the only side effect of this rollercoaster ride.  Many of us, poor souls, suffer from a little motion sickness when plunged into the depths of exam tension. In fact, when it comes to the crunch I defy anyone not to feel a little icky, as if your stomach has jumped ship and joined the circus. It is a well-known fact that stress can bring on physical symptoms of nausea, dizziness and even fainting – but don’t worry, it could be worse.

Until you’ve thrown up outside Maiden Castle in front of a spectating crowd of exam candidates, you’ve not felt embarrassment. And just in case you’re thinking that this situation might well apply to you in the coming weeks, for the record it helps to have a loyal friend to hold your hair back and venture bravely into the gents to fetch you a paper towel.

Most importantly, as this scenario illustrates, before long you will be able to laugh at yourself, your unfounded fears and anxieties. So don’t stress! You are not the first person to embark on this ride; those in front of you in the queue have laughed, cried, screamed but most importantly survived and you will too. Take it from someone who has been through the rollercoaster and has come out the other side in one piece: there comes a time when the fears dissolve, the adrenaline kicks in and the result leaves you on top of the world. With highs like these, this junkie is the first in the queue.