“Don’t forget we will have an exam tomorrow based on the four units we covered for macroeconomics,” my professor uttered as he dismissed the class. A heavy silence carried throughout the room as all my classmate’s eyes darted around. That silence broke from the mad race of students trying to exchange the most papers amongst one another. They called it “panic mode”. The mere mention of an “exam” put everyone in flight or fight mode. At the beginning of my first year at university, this was the norm.
Although I’ve not been one to stress over exams regularly, I’ve always understood why most people do. There is a common emphasis on how important test-taking is as though it is life or death. I began to ask if the way most people thought was the right way. Before arriving on campus that year, I had been self-studying Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad, and he mentioned something that struck me:
“Do What The 99% Are Not Doing.”
It hit me. Try doing the opposite from most people. When people say don’t mix work with pleasure, I do the opposite. It may sound absurd, but I believe that treating tests like a fun game where you’re merely testing your memory will make all the difference. After you have taken the test, you can let go of all of the information you studied and enjoy the rest of your day.
Naturally, I still want to perform well on my exams, but viewing them as a game helps me maintain a healthy attitude. It just means that we can put in a lot of effort and try our hardest, but we should also keep things in perspective.
We will always cherish the wonderful night we spent drinking cappuccino and playing board games with friends, regardless of the few marks we dropped on a paper by taking the evening off.