It’s that time of year again Wildcats: exam season! Whether you have an EOC, CTE, or teacher-made exam, preparing properly is key to eliminating stress and aiding success. Everyone learns differently, so Cat Talk took to the hallways to answer, “What are you doing to prepare for your exams?”

  Senior Marjorie Jimenez-Lechuga has a full exam schedule with tests for American History II, Math IV, English IV, and her CA class. She relayed, “I’ve been making study guides to help me out with important topics, and when I don’t have any work for that class I use that time to review.” While teachers may provide study guides, making your own with the specific information you find important can be a great confidence builder. Feeling confident about what you know can help ease tensions and perhaps allow for better sleep the night before. 

  Junior Ella Gamache proposed a new study tactic before her AP Statistics exam by sharing, “I listen to content review videos out loud while I’m falling asleep and during sleep. It helps you absorb the information by seeping into your subconscious.” BBC wrote an article addressing this study phenomenon, and while they all but dismissed this theory they did have this to say, “Despite being blind and deaf to new information, however, the sleeping brain is far from idle: it mulls over the day’s experiences, sending memories from the hippocampus – where memories are first thought to form – to regions across the cortex, where they are held in long-term storage … Sleep also helps us to generalize what we’ve learned, giving us the flexibility to apply the skills to new situations. So although you can’t soak up new material, you might instead be able to cement the facts or skills learned throughout the day.” This is precisely why getting adequate sleep during the studying stage and the night before the big exam is key to rocking it. 

  Junior NyJal Brooks has exams in every one of his classes, but when asked what he’s doing to prepare: “I’m not studying at all, I’m gonna wing it. I wing it on everything. I just pray.” We’ll check back with NyJal after the exams to see how well that worked out for him. While this works for some people, it’s safer to study at least a little bit to calm nerves or feel secure.