Wild Goose Chase

There have been very rare occasions when exams have frustrated me to such an extent. Now many may find it abnormal, but exams have rarely intimidated me. Not because I was well versed with every subject but I because I had faith in my management skills. With my college running on nine-to -five schedules, it becomes really difficult to manage studies and at the same time handle your social life. So I made up for the lost time by studying really hard on holidays and the much awaited preparatory leave.

But this time I made an extra effort to study during the college schedule. Whenever I find some subject interesting, I go for the reference books. I did that with Electronics where I devoured Boylestead which was a book equal to my own weight. Then in Microcontrollers I studied Mazidi with such interest that my mom thought I was reading a Harry Potter book hidden within it. The good thing about these books is the use of simple, lucid language. The flow is absolutely wonderful and every single term was presented in an uncomplicated way so as not to scare off the reader. That’s the way I believe is right way to study and even in this semester I stuck to it.

But the problem with this method is that it doesn’t prepare you well for your written exams. Getting conceptual knowledge is one thing but presenting it on paper where the examiner is looking for specific words to assess your knowledge is completely different story. I did a lot of hard work for this semester. I don’t remember studying for almost eight hours every single day in any of my previous semesters. But the papers turned out to be a big disappointment and that’s when frustration sets in. I realized while I was busy getting my concepts cleared, I had left out quite a few vital topics which are repeatedly asked in exams. I realized this during the first exams so I went into damage control mode. For the following exams I tried to cover up every single chapter (with the obvious risk of losing out on the concepts) and was feeling a bit confident. But this time I got all muddled up in the end and plus the paper was completely conceptual so I realized I had screwed up my papers.

I managed to write two papers really well but the remaining two have got me all worked up. After three years into engineering, I had become quite a pro in cracking the exams but I am now shrouded in self doubt. As of now I am searching for some pattern in these papers so that I can ensure a smooth ride for myself in my last semester. Or am I on a wild goose chase?