Prelims: the Finish-line

Time to celebrate a bit :-)

2.5 weeks, and the ordeal is OVER! In the past two weeks, I've suffered and learnt real meanings of words like "Patience", "Frustration", "Insomnia", "Acidity" and most importantly, the mantra that "good things never always happen to good people", and that at times you never get what you really deserve.
The marks don't count- not when it comes to the satisfaction I've derived from every question I've answered. And at the same time, they really do count. If I end up getting less than I expect, I'm going to feel betrayed and again ascertain that this is one unfair world. If I more than I expect, I'm only going to put it down as my amazing luck. Please note, nowhere do I blame myself for the results. Typical student attitude. We just don't ever want to say, "We just din't study enough." Fact is, it isn't easy to do all the studying, and frankly, I can't bear to even think of how I've spent the last 2.5 weeks. I wish I could predict when I'm going to learn that doing my entire portion the night before the exam, is sheer foolishness! Yet, I can answer a part of that. It is only when I feel confident enough ( that is, after having done my portion at least three times over), that I can entertain such a thought. Currently, all I want to do is, take a few days ( hours out of days actually)off, and just relax. I want to do things that are going to make me want to get back to studying with enthusiasm, not with the resigning attitude that I so feel I am going develop soon.
So, how were my exams? Pretty ok. The papers were good. Except for a disaster that Micro 2 might turn out to be, and a catastrophe that Forensic is going to be ( I will eat a boiled eggplant if that doesn't turn out to be true!), the rest was definitely on the verge of good. My patience and the ability to stay hungry for 5 hours was tested big time during the Pathology practicals. I am not very good at staying hungry. During exams, no way. The tension and the atmosphere of the practical hall make a lethal combination. The moment my stomach gets a little empty, the brain starts to talk about putting in some HCl in there, and I suffer from vague symptoms of hypoglycemia and acidity. Patho was the height of it all. I was the 2nd last person to go for the viva, and finished at 5:30 pm. And I had had lunch at 11:45am.
Forensic (FMT) was another tester. This time, completely testing our ability to patiently wait....wait....wait...wait...wait...wait......and wait. I was there for the practical from 10 am in the morning to 5 pm in the evening. Had that 2nd viva not turned out to be awesome, I would've been ready to send a body in there for a post-mortem!!( kidding....I woud've just chucked the thoughts of FMT aside any way!!)
What have I learnt from my prelims? Firstly, I totally understand why a senior of mine, gave a post-exam party after her prelims had gotten over last year. The feeling CANNOT be described! You fly in the air, as high as you can go, feel the breeze blast past you and yet not hurt a single cell....suddenly swoop down and catch hold of all those small and special things you wanted to do for so long......and have a great night's sleep without worrying about those alarms that have been dissolving dreams within seconds, for the past 2 weeks.
And, I learnt that doing things on instinct does work to your advantage, making your paper go much better than it might have gone otherwise. I also learnt that everything has to end finally, so it is obviously going to a much better finish-line, if you stop losing your head and health over small things. :-)            

Exam Time - 3 : The Lessons Learnt

That's the end of it all. A nightmare, a bad dream, a lesson in life, a lesson of life, an experience, a treat, a premier college event.....whatever you'd like to call it. fact is, its all over, and I couldn't thank my stars enough for putting me into Batch C. We finished our practicals first. Batch E started theirs yesterday. So now we have a five day break, and it really couldn't come at a better time.
So how was Anatomy yesterday? Well, it wasn't good, in fact, if there's one paper I know I'm definitely failing in, its Anatomy. When both your paper and practical suck the way these did, well, there's no option but to smile and sigh and say, " Well, I really couldn't help that!" Yesterday was nightmare Anatomy relived, actually. Afetr having studied so hard for Embryology, I went blank. B-L-A-N-K blank. Never in my life have I gone blank in a viva. I get nervous and really cold and pitch-white, but I DON'T go BLANK! Guess, the teacher was sorry for me too. She really tried to put me at ease, talking about my braces and how long my treatment has been going on and all, but all to no avail. I couldn't hide my head enough in embarrassment.
Bones were better, but not as good as I wanted them to be. Thats all I really want to say. I don't know how I lived through it all. And the soft parts were a 50-50. They weren't great, but they weren't all bad. I did answer some things.
So, I wasn't all happy ( as I'd predicted before yesterday) at the end of my practicals. After all, there've been lessons learnt and they haven't exactly been sweet ones. So what have I learnt? Its very simple.
1. STUDY and study regularly and from the beginning.
2. Learn every practical once you finish it, and not a week before the exams. Or, as in my terms' caase, one evening before the exam.
3. I hate Anatomy. There's no doubt. I can't even think of thinking about imagining organs and where they're situated. But, that doesn't mean I don't do it. It means I take more time for it, at least this year, to score in the University.
4. I was always weak at Anat and its time I accepted that fact and worked towards beating it. Thats what all my idols have done with themselves, right? I should learn something from them.
5. Whenever you study, study forever. I mean, study it all in such a way that you could think about remembering it forever. If you can't even think of doing it, the first time you've learnt something up, you're just not up there actually.
6. Discuss with Dad. He's your best bet to sail through in Anatomy.
7. And finally, do NOT cramp up everything in your evening or day before the exam. Thats how much your preparation should be.
8. Do your bones everyday. One bone everyday.
9. Do your reactions every day. Biochem would have been much better if you'd finished your cycles before and given more time to the theory, a week before the exams.
10. Be regular. Even if you have to sit up till 12 am every day, just to finish the work of the day. Don't leave anything for the weekend which comes up next.
11. Weekends are to enjoy. To revise whatever you've done in the week, an old chapter or two. And then ENJOY. You're given a break. Use it the way it should be.
12. And lastly, stick to all that you've just written, my dear girl. It'll help to sail through the exams.
They look pretty ideal rules, but I have to follow them. There's no other way for me. I don't want the embarrassment of having to repeat a term. So I'm gonna start from today itself.
Looking forward to enjoying my break. Thank God, the exams are over. I almost know my result, so it couldn't come as a shock to me in any way. Looking forward to some easy relaxed times!!!