What used to be September is now July. For students who haven't been lucky in all subjects, it's time to face the recovery exams. We were so happy...
We are finally free! The course has come to an end and with it, the classes and the last season of exams that has left us exhausted, but eager to enjoy the pool and the summer plans. One year closer to graduating and having the
eTítulo! Everything is as we thought except for one little detail: the grades have been posted and oh sh***! We have failed and we have to take recovery exams! What a downer!
Stay calm
We may feel tired and not in the mood to lock ourselves up to study again, but the good thing about changing the recovery exams from September to July is that it will be fresh in our memory and with a few tricks, it will be a piece of cake to pass and even get great grades. The important thing is to stay calm, not to overreact (failing is not the end of the world), and start studying as soon as possible; but not studying like we did the first time, but much better: making it fun.
Clarification
Another thing is that if we didn't take the first test, we should stop reading this post and go to the many others on the blog to help us prepare for exams. Just by taking a look around the web, we will see that there are tips to help us prepare for any type of exam that catches us off guard.
The first unavoidable step
Always, always, always, even if it bores us to death, even if we hate it from the depths of our being, always, the first step will be organization. And it's not something to cry about, in a couple of hours, at most, it will be resolved. We need to check the dates of the recovery exams and put them on the calendar or on the wall so we don't forget them. Then, see how much time we have until each exam and calculate how many hours we should dedicate to studying each day (without being overly optimistic or perfectionists). Once this is done, we must gather all the material, making sure we have everything we need.
Don't study what we already know for recovery exams
Now it's time to do something we only do when it's not the first tests but recovery exams: see what we know and what we don't. So that we don't waste time studying things we already know, we have to do a screening. The best technique to do this is to use the
Leitner method, which consists of making cards with all the possible questions that will be on the exam and dividing them into three boxes according to how well we know them: poorly, somewhat better, or perfectly. We explain in detail how to use this very useful study technique here.
Change study techniques for recovery exams
Since we have already prepared that subject before and have already taken an exam, we should have a pretty clear study material. That's why these new recovery exams will be very easy to prepare for and we shouldn't complicate things by copying and summarizing already seen topics. Now it's better to change study techniques and, in addition to the aforementioned Leitner method, it would be good to try other formulas that include some fun, such as
studying with drawings (if the subject allows it),
mind maps,
mnemonic devices, and if we're lucky enough to have a classmate or friend/partner/relative who is in the same situation, use them without mercy. When we can study with help, it's great to use the cards we have already made and turn the reviews into a game of questions and answers or an impromptu master class that we will teach to confirm how well we know the material, gain confidence, and reinforce the acquired knowledge.
Don't lose confidence because of having to take recovery exams
If we study a lot and still fail, it's a blow, but beyond the initial disappointment of having to take recovery exams, it shouldn't affect us too much, and even less our confidence in ourselves. There are many factors that influence failing: nerves, lack of sleep, the exam being more difficult than expected, not knowing what the teacher considers important, not studying with enough time, fatigue, not understanding certain subjects well, being asked to memorize instead of explaining in our own words or vice versa... It's not important. What's important is to bounce back and try again until we succeed. Surely the next time will be the one and then we will have 2 months of vacation without having to think about classes. Good luck!
