How I did A/Ls - Part 2

Last time I told you about how I prepared for the A.L examination.(How I did A/Ls- Part 1) So today I am telling you how I managed stress during the exam.

As we all know first paper is the pure mathematics paper. Relative to applied maths, I was good at pure maths. So my plan was to do my best for the pure paper so I can pass the exam. But unfortunately it was so hard for a mediocre student like me. My hopes went down the drain. Even an S was not possible at this rate since I suck at applied mathematics. As expected Applied maths paper was much more difficult and again I screwed. What a beginning... I predicted that I will get around 33 marks for the paper..2 marks away from the pass mark. All I could do was to pray that a good marker will add 2 marks somehow so I can pass the subject. Usually I think about anything too much. So it's natural for me to screw the next 2 exams, but it did not happen that way. Surprisingly I just gave it up the moment I went home and started focusing on Physics. I thought at least if I get good grades for next two subjects I can prove that I'm not totally dumb. So I practiced so hard for the MCQ paper. Now let me tell you something important here. Everybody knows first 10 questions are easy and last 10 are the most difficult ones. Do not waste time unnecessarily on last 10 questions and make sure you get 10 out of 10 for the first 10 questions because no matter how hard the question is, you will only get 1 mark per question. Secure marks as much as you can from the easy ones. 

So I went to the exam and did something utterly stupid. I used to score 35+ in term tests just because I guess answers to most of them. I invented a method of guessing which works like 8 out of 10 times and whenever I'm stuck somewhere I use it. And in the real A/L exam I was afraid of using it. I thought what if they know students use it and purposely misguide me. So guys I believed in my logic that the method I invented and screwed the paper... How did I know I screwed? I checked the MCQ answers which nobody should do. Teachers asked us not to check them until the whole examination comes to an end coz once you know you screwed your whole mentality goes down. I badly wanted to check it (I think when someone say no I kind of tend to do it) and paid the price. Out of 50 only 28 were correct. I haven't marked my answers for 2 questions so it's either 28,29 or 30. Oh boy.. I lost 20 marks like that. Lose 5 more and I will lose an A. I was never stressed like that in my life. So I'm telling you... Don't you dare check mcqs before the exam comes to an end. During the second paper all I could think of was " Please focus. Don't lose any marks. 5 more and you are done. 15 more and you are doomed." (Because of that 55 average thing I had to get an A or at least a B) I successfully completed the second part. I only didn't know the answer to a  small part in a one structured essay question. Other than that I knew I did well and I will at least get a B. 

So chemistry.. the one I'm good at.. I was so confident and it only took me an hour to finish the mcq paper and 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete the second paper. I also answered to an extra question in the essay paper just to make sure I get the A I deserve (I did both physical questions and the organic chemistry one). I didn't work hard during the chemistry papers actually. I even watched a tv series after completing the mcq paper. The key for A/Ls is managing stress. Once you are a master at stress management you get good grades eventually. I know so many bright people who ended up screwing just because they are bad at stress management. The thing is you can't figure how to manage stress during the real A/L examination. That's why you have so many term tests. You have to figure out the way that works for you.

And finally the examination was over. I knew my result beforehand. It has to be either ABS or AAS. And after around 4 months oneday they released the results of GCE A/L examination 2014. Even though I predicted the result I was so nervous. I'm sure you all know how long it takes to get the results from the web and I tried for around 45 minutes. While I was freaking out and trying so hard (All I could think of was what if it's not good.. What should I do then) I got a call. It's from this person in the neighborhood who wanted to know my results. Even my mom was not in a hurry like him.. He said "Hi.. I'm xxxx speaking. How is your results. My wife's sisters son did the exam for the second time and he has 3A's. What about you? " Really??? If you called me to get my results why the hell are you shoving in other peoples results at my face? And he did it for the second time. I faced the exam for the first time. I was sooooo glad that I didn't know my results at the time. So dear satellite neighbors and relatives, it's okay if you wanna know results, but show some respect. We don't wanna know what happened to your grandmothers sisters daughters son. Just have the gossip you wanted to have and go. 

About 15 minutes  later I got my results. Finally... It was ABS. And I was sooooooooo happy. I did it. What was in my mind at that time was "Now I have 58.3 and I don't have to do the exam again. All I have to do now is to apply for the university and leave." 

So I was supposed to be in Greater Noida having fun by now? How did I ended up at UOC FOS instead? Stay tuned.

How I ended up in UOC...

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You can read all of my articles about GCE A/Ls by clicking HERE.
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