My First Exams and What I Learnt From Them

Well it's been quite a time since I last wrote.

The last time I posted was a few days before my exams started and I expressed how I wasn't feeling too stressed about things and that I was feeling pretty good.

Things didn't go the way I thought they would.

My Sunday before exams was planned out: go to work, tutor a student in my French class for our exam and then study math for myself.

My work shift is just 9am-12pm Sunday mornings, however I got myself into a bit of a jam because I took an extra shift right after.

They were desperate for someone else to work, so I step up because frankly, I need the money.

It wasn't too bad, but I ended up working 9am-5pm.

That set everything back at least three hours.

I only met my friend to help him study French at around 5:30 and we both had to leave at 7:15. 

I did as much as I could to help him prepare and taught him how to answer the question with the words already placed in the question.

I found out today once I walked past him in the hallway that he passed the exam which is great! He struggled with a failing grade for the majority of the semester, however he was able to bring it up in the end!

After I got home, I studied for math and then went to bed for a good night's rest before exams.

I woke up the day of my first exam feeling immensely sick.

The stomach flu had been going around just a few days before and I was convinced that I got sick myself.

There's not much you can do, you can't miss an exam unless a family member has passed away or that you're hospitalized. 

I went to school on Monday and wrote my first two exams, English then French, and felt progressively better throughout the day.

I thought I was getting better and went to bed early that night to be refreshed for my morning math exam on Tuesday.

I woke up and the stomach pains hit me harder than ever.

I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink, I had a headache and my mind was set that I had the flu.

Once again, nothing I could've done so I went to school.

I used my whole two hours to work on my math exam and when I walked out of the exam room, all of my symptoms disappeared.

There's nothing else it could've been except for anxiety. If that's the case, I've never had anxiety at a constant level that high before.

It was crazy to realize that it was anxiety, but then I figured that I must've been so stressed about my exams that I kept my mind busy with anything and everything, like taking an extra shift and focusing on tutoring someone else, to keep my thoughts from drifting to my exams.

Im so glad I have them over with and that I've started my second semester, however I learnt an important lesson.

In a few years from now, possibly even one year from now, those marks won't matter.

Your exam marks don't define you as a person. They don't test your knowledge in a skill rather than your memorization skill. It's completely unfair to tell students that they all learn in unique ways yet have a standardized test to challenge what we can remember, however there's nothing that we can do about that yet.

Anyway, your exam results are a number, a fraction or a percentage that you won't be able to remember in two years time. 

Those digits will not define you as a person or limit you to what you can do in your life.

If anyone else had exams I hope you did well and if you have any coming up, I wish you the best of luck.

One More Girl, no longer online

How To Deal With A Big Project

I have to huge project that I have to present tomorrow and I have had nothing but nerves since the day we got assigned this project. I don't do well presenting or having a healthy schedule for actually working on the project. This post is for anyone like me, someone who doesn't have the proper motivation to move along with the project and someone who is terrified to present.

I found this information not too long ago, so hopefully I'll be able to remember it for tomorrow and also that someone else will find it useful. 

How to stay on task:

• Don't Multitask.

It will have your mind scatter over many different things and some probably stents as important as this huge project that you have to finish.

• Break Up The Project

Instead of looking at the project as one huge roadblock, look at it as many smaller parts. Also, it's better to get the dreaded part that you don't want to do done, because then it's over and done with.

**

How to relax during a project

• Take Breaks

There's no need to do 7 hours straight of work, overwhelm yourself and cause ever more stress for yourself.

•Reward Yourself

There's nothing wrong with taking a break and eating your favourite snack, going out with friends, watching a TV show, playing a video game, do whatever you'd like!. As long as you don't overextend this reward, there's no problem at all with it!

How To Deal With Presenting

• Slow It Down

Don't rush through sentences to get the project over and done with. Your brain will be on fast forward and you'll be more likely to stumble over a few words. Instead, take a small pause between paragraphs and take time to breath between sentences.

• Practice Makes Perfect

Practice your presentation before the actual presentation day. I know from experience that it is ALWAYS better to have had a few trial runs before you present the real thing. It helps make you feel more comfortable with your material, so don't feel ashamed to talk to a mirror once or twice!

**

I hope that these few tips can help someone else. I know that during my project breaks and researching these facts have helped me towards the end of my project. Hopefully it will be done for Monday. I just have to glue my text onto the poster board, find some images, download some music and practice! 

Also, always please remember that your health should always come before any school or work project. Please try to not lose sleep, don't skip meals to get it done, don't let stress build up, take care of yourself. 

No project is more important than you.


One More Girl, no longer online

Dealing With Stress

When I looked up the definition of stress on Google, the definition I got was "A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances."

I've been feeling stressed recently because at my school, they thought the best idea was to dropped all this course selection and "life decision" speech all within four or five school days. 

If it takes me 20 minutes to figure out what shirt size fits best, how do they expect me to make choices that will affect my life for years after that?

I would be lying if I said I've been feeling a little stressed over this. I feel the need to follow in my older sister's footsteps, I feel the need to make my parents proud even if that means doing something I'm not happy with, I'm worried that I won't have all the credits that I need to graduate and so many other things. I'm not sure what program I want to follow.

I'm not even 100% sure what career I want to have when I'm older, so how do I know what classes to take so I set myself up to get into the right university courses?

I won't lie, I had two little cries today because I worked myself up too much.

Seeing as I'm feeling quite stressed out and others might be experiencing the same feeling, whether now or months after this is posted, I looked up a few ways to help reduce stress.

1. Listen to some music
Music is proven to help lower your blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety. Allow your mind to focus on the different melodies and harmonies and all of the instruments. There's no shame in cracking up the tunes!

2. Exercise
Many people enjoy different types of exercise, so there isn't a specific one you should do. Yoga and walking are great ways to ease depression and anxiety, but if you feel more like doing some powerlifting (or weights in general), or sprinting, or boxing, do whatever you prefer!

3. Laugh
Whether you watch a favourite TV show or you watch something funny on YouTube, laughing increases oxygen and blood flow to the brain which can automatically reduce stress.

4.Breath
Take a minute to focus on your breathing, filling your lungs with air. In through your nose and out with your mouth, breath in for five seconds and exhale for five seconds. Doing this repeatedly can make yourself feel calmer.

5. Light a Candle
Aromatherapy is a good way to relieve stress.Lavender is consistently shown to reduce stress levels. If you don't like the smell of lavender, that's alright, get the scent of something you enjoy!

Stress can be difficult to manage, but you should never turn to alcohol or other potentially harmful ways to deal with it, there's always an alternative and healthy way to deal with it. 


One More Girl, no longer online