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So today I failed an exam

aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q

Entry posted by aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q

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But you know, I realized something as I stopped just to look at the questions, I came to a rather stunning realization that changes everything.

 

But before I get to that, let me tell you what the exam is. The subject in question is "Project & Consultancy". Now let me tell you what my curriculum is; Electrical Engineering. See, in high school, physics and chemistry is where I felt at home and here in college, I've now successfully gotten math on the brain too. Now let me tell you something about physics and math, you learn when and how to apply the fundamental things it teaches you -- just explaining what kinetic energy or what Newton's laws are just isn't going to cut it, you have to know when said laws apply and how to use them to figure out what happens in a given situation. It's about understanding mechanisms and where they matter. That's why you need to sit still at the concepts given to you and and try to understand how they affect things.

 

Getting back to today's exam, aside from having no multiple choice questions, there was this pattern I noticed... and that's when it hit me.

 

Not a single question asked me anything along the lines of "what would happen if..." or "what should you do if...". Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. You know what it all came down to? Vocabulary. In other words...

It was all about the jargon!

Yeah, that's right. All it asked for were definitions and examples. Nothing to do whatsoever with applied logic like I'm so used to preparing for. Because **** that. Backwards. I know, right?

And to think we got a large textbook explaining magnificently how things work while all we needed all along was a ****ing dictionary. Where's Sweetie Belle when you need her?

 

In conclusion, this is what could be said about how I approached this subject to studying:

 

wrong.jpg

 

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5 Comments

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FourClove

Oh that's terrible... Maybe you just have to go fuck dat sheet, take your money back (if you can) and study yourself.

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aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q

Oh that's terrible... Maybe you just have to go fuck dat sheet, take your money back (if you can) and study yourself.

Actually, I've made a lot of progress. This subject's a second-year subject, yes but I've gotten way too far to turn back now. Though I do plan on studying myself once I'm done here.

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lomk

I hate it when that happens. I've failed a couple exams too, and I hate it because I'm an A/B student. Last semester, I spent about 16 hours studying for an auditing exam (I'm an accounting major--ultimate goal is to earn a CPA license) that I needed a 64 on in order to keep my B in Auditing. Last year, I made a 51 on an exam in Intermediate Accounting II. 

 

Failing is one of the most heartbreaking things that happens to me. I dread it. But the way I see it, you can either sit there and "accept" failure...or you can use it as a reason to come flying back at a hundred miles an hour. Sometimes it takes falling flat on your face in order to reach higher. 

 

Not sure how you're feeling about this, but I hope the next one goes better. If this was the first exam in the class, maybe now you know what to expect on the following exams. Best wishes!

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aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q

@, thank you. Well, I've fallen a year behind already so I've felt the sting of failure before. There were times where it really got to me but in the end, I always think about how I can do better. Somewhat unfortunately, there can be no real learning without some trial-and-error and the more in unfamiliar territory you are, the more shots in the dark you're going to be forced to make. Just don't end up repeating mistakes and you should be fine but it will still take time. More time than I would've liked, to be honest...

Well, this realization will very much come in handy for me. I'm convinced now that hard discipline is most relevant in hands-on situations like practicums and projects. With studying on the other hand, it's about working smart, not really about working hard. One of my problems with studying has been that I've been very inefficient in doing so as I would deepen too much where I don't really need to. Sure, it would get me to know the material almost to an extent to which I could teach a class but it slows me down immensely. My grades the past two semesters have been extremes without much of a middle ground, see.

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