This coming week is exam week. I wonder if my students are studying for it. I see some of their msn nicks saying that their worst nightmare is here. That suddenly made me remember my own exam days. When I was younger, I can really study non-stop throughout the day and I never did last minute work. I can start studying so early for exams that by the time I sit for my History paper, I have already memorised the facts at least 3 times over and I have a whole list of questions which I anticipated and prepared answers for. I went through secondary school getting good results through pure hard work.

Then when I came to University, I realised that pure hard work didn't get me very far. It was then that I learnt to study smart. I discovered I didn't have to understand everything (there was no time to do so anyway). I studied from past year papers, trying to figure out the focus and the nature of the questions for each of the module. That served me pretty well. My CAP points kept increasing every semester after my 2nd sem.

But I think the most precious thing I gained from my uni exam period was the friendship that I experienced when I went to school to study. Although everybody was rushing for time, but my friends were always so helpful when I needed their assistance. They shared notes that they got from seniors, shared answers that they got from consultation with professors. It was so joyful to stick it through the bad times with my friends that I didn't mind travelling all the way from Pasir Ris to Clementi, just to study with my classmates.

I think i've done all that I can to prepare my students for their exams already. But there's something else which I also hope they will learn as they go through this exam period: That is to find joy in sticking it out together and helping each other succeed. I don't know how many of them will be reading this but if they are indeed reading, then I truly hope they find the joy in going through exams together as friends, supporting and encouraging each other to do their best!