As you do the count down to the commencement of your examinations, I wish to encourage you to prepare adequately and build confidence in yourselves so as to emerge victorious.

Examinations are not set to make your life hard but they are intended to check your level of achievement and to push you to another level of academics. All you need to do in the remaining time is to be focused on your books. Several people have gone through the same situation and many others will also face it after you.

This is the right time for you to do what I may call the mop up exercise which involves going through all the notes to ensure that you are not caught off guard by the examiners. Do not focus on few areas and ignore the others because the examinations cover a wider scope of the curriculum.

You have to be sure that you have read and understood all the topics by trying to outline the key points for each of them. In case you realise that you have shallow understanding of certain topics, you should revise them again carefully and consult your teachers for guidance.

Another strategy is to intensify group discussions based on past paper questions. You can draw a programme for the discussions and make sure that each member of the group carries out research on all the questions you intend to discuss before the actual discussion takes place. If you are not sure of the approach to certain questions, you may request the teachers to guide you. Group discussions will help you to develop confidence in yourselves and you will not panic during the course of the examinations. In case some of the questions discussed in the group appear, you will be able to remember what you discussed.

If you just keep revising your notes without testing yourself to establish whether the information has sunk in your brain, you will get disappointed when you appear for an examination and realise that you can hardly remember what you read.

You should give yourself adequate time to rest so that your brain and entire body can refresh. It is not helpful for you to read endlessly just because you feel that you have a lot to read.

Reading is one thing and mastering what you have read is another. Your revision time table should have rest intervals so that you are able to put the books aside and relax. By the time you resume reading, the brain will be fresh and ready to take in more material.

During the examination period, you should avoid noisy places which can disorganise your mind. Look out for quiet places that are conducive for revision and meditation. Even as you prepare for a given examination, it is advisable that you sit in a quiet place so that by the time you enter the examination room, your brain is ready to retrieve the necessary information.

At the start of a given examination, take time to interpret the questions to be sure that you get the right approach to each one of them other than rushing to write the answers. When you rush, you may give wrong information and fail. You may try to outline the points that you think are in line with the questions that you intend to answer and when you look at them critically, you will be able to determine whether you are on the right track or not.

As you write the answers, be mindful of the language that you use. Formulate sentences that make sense, explain the points and give relevant examples. Before you hand in the answer booklets, proof read your work to correct any careless mistakes that you might have made.Go for success!

The writer is an English Language Instructor.