It’s always the last few days before the exams that are the most stressful and confusing ones. You suddenly get the urge to read more books, listen to random songs on loop and go café-hopping with your friends. It’s the last few days that give you the pre-exam jitters- the nervousness of not getting any questions right, the anxiousness of whether you will get a decent examination center and what not. Add to this the way in which these exams are placed- right before our boards. “Why can’t the board committee take into consideration us designers, rather than just looking after the engineers?”
Fueling this ‘thoughts ka jaal’ in our minds we have our parents restricting us from all the possible stress busters I can think of- Do not use your phone, thoda padh le! Do not eat-out with your friends, thoda padh le! Do not roam after classes for a long time, thoda padh le! Are yaar, kitna padhu? Do not ask this question or you yourself will start overthinking about all the time you spent in the last two years on your mobiles or with your friends in doing stuff that is of zero importance for your exams.
Re-reading GK books and giving up halfway because “GK is a risky game coz. you never know what to expect in the exams”; solving numerical and getting the “Isn’t Maths supposed to be a piece of
cake?”; finally opening the Part Bs of the paper and getting- “You have to practice this consistently and not at the last minute!”
So, what exactly should we do last minute? “It’s the stuff that we do last minute that helps the most in the exams,” right? Wrong. You see the thing is we are taking a design entrance and not a school unit test of 20 marks. Thodi toh mehnat leni padegi! I know, I know even I have heard the same stuff that I am about to say a million times before, but consistency in sketching, keeping a tap on the daily news and going through mock papers and past-year papers helps a lot, trust me (coming from someone who has successfully completed this part of the prep) Avoid comparing your marks with those of others and try and keep yourself on track. I remember my entrances ka experience. The first ones are always of the national schools which is going to help you to judge your prep for the ones that are lined up next. All the exams are going to be a reality check for you. I know this sounds a bit harsh, but they help you to gear up for what is about to come! And let go of all the pressures of – What questions should I expect? Should I focus more on Maths or on English?
For my NID, they asked zero Maths questions and the GK ones were also simple to attempt! It may happen that the paper would not meet your expectations. And that’s okay, because focus on the next one rather than sitting and worrying about the paper while you are attempting it. So, its ‘a few days to go’ before the exams. Don’t write ‘5 days to NID’ or ‘7 days to UCEED’ on your
calendars (I wrote the same on mine and it just fuels to your anxiety or stress, if you have any!) The last thing that you would like to add on to your worries is boards’ tension.
Mat lo!
I was an Arts student but my Science friends also managed to pull it off and trust me it is a cakewalk compared to the entrances!
Have fun and enjoy the prep days as they are the best ones! Watching video tutorials, solving mock papers, and reading out Gk facts to each other while munching on random stuff was the best. Woh din bhi kya din the! Aaahhhhh…. Enough of this nostalgia,
I will get back to my submissions varna all-nighter to pakka hai;
while you get back to your scrolling, sorry, I meant studying!
-Krishna Bendre
