Life is not just about exams..

Salam!..quite long since I posted here.. :)

Ok..where to start.. Before this, I had an interview with PSD (JPA). I had to discuss about "the National Education System". And I talked about the exam-orientedness of the system. It was agreed in the newspapers and most students say so too. But somehow, I believe that actually it's all part of our mindsets. Now, what am I talking about?? Let me explain.

What is the first thing that is asked form a student nowadays? To get good grades, straight A's.. What is the first reason used by a student to not participate in an activity? Exams and tests..namely UPSR, PMR and SPM. Or maybe because their parents did not give them permission..why? Exams.. So, we get the idea. The main focus of most students, parents and teachers are exams!

But the education system is not to be blamed. Now, students are forced to participate in co-curricular activities and workshops. All of these are important somehow to build soft skills like communication and thinking skills. Then again, some students still give that petty reason "I have PMR this year" or something similar to that. One of the reasons this happens is because these students are not studying the right way.

For example, after UPSR, most students take a slow progress and play a lot in form 1. They play a lot, study little and get not-very-good grades. Then, they get used to it and do the same thing in form 2. After that, they panic in form 3, and use PMR as a reason to avoid chores, friends and duties. It happens because of last-minute study. Because of neglect and not practicing the good way of studying.

Another case that happens is that some actually focus all their might to get good grades and they do! But, they get left out from the real world, from friends, fun and skills. When they arrive in the real world, they don't know what to do. They have insufficient skills and lack confidence. After being used to all the 'mock test papers' in the exams, they don't get used to real life which doesn't supply 'mock life papers'. Then, they just don't become the best they should.

Besides that, there are also parents and teachers that stress too much on exams. This makes students feel the same way and they neglect the concept of studying for life and acquiring soft skills. They go to school, sit in class and learn just for the sake of pouring everything back on exam papers. Whereas if you fail, you'll like fail everything. And that is not true! Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar did not take his SPM (because his family couldn't afford) but now he is the richest muslim in Malaysia. A billionaire!

I am not saying that exams are not important or anything like that. It is important, as an intellectual measurement of ourselves. But there are also other important aspects of our life that we must consider. Spiritual, emotional and physical aspects. This discussion can go much much longer, but I'd just like to say, Life is Not Just About Exams. =]

Steps To Master A Difficult Subject

This is something that I've come up with from personal experience. So, I can say that these steps are proven to be successful. Here's where we can start..

1. Realize that we find the subject quite hard.

This is actually a step that has been done by most of us..but some of us do it too much that we feel very difficult to master the subject at all, or in other words, give up. It is just important to realize that the we are having some difficulty in a subject. Then, we move on.

2. Ask for help!

This one is not really supposed to be number 2, but because it helps quite a lot..so I think we should pay attention here first. I actually had problems with my Additional Mathematics. Why? That should be discussed in another topic.haha. The first thing I did was to ask for help as this is actually the easiest step. I asked someone better at this to help teach me and it worked. In fact, we can ask for help from teachers too. They are the experts. So, why waste time not asking? It's their job anyway. To teach! There are though some things we must keep in mind when asking for help..
i. Don't think that by letting someone teach us, we'll go from E to A just like that.
ii. Ask help from a number of friends (if possible)
iii. Try and make it a win-win situation, e.g. "you teach me Math & I'll teach you Biology"
iv. When asking help from friends, don't blame them if they're unable to teach..they're students too.
v. Tell the person your specific problem..don't just go and say "please teach me everything!"

Overall, this step reaaally helps. But, it won't work by itself. There are still more.

3. Focus more in class.

I know this sounds very cliche..but it really works. Anyway, one of the reasons we start to have difficulty in a subject is not focusing in class..isn't it? Therefore, this is the source of the problem and we must take action! There are numerous ways to stay 'alive' in class, like asking or answering questions or chewing candy (only if the teacher's ok with that). The point is, focus more in class and maintain it.

4. Read more.

Haha..another cliche step you say? Again, this reaally works! Ok, let's make this simple. When the exam is around the corner, what do we do? We open our books and read them! But, why doesn't it work fully then? because..we always do it in the very last minute. And our focus also usually is not very good at that time with the number of books to read and the worry that we have. So, we have to start reading more on that weak subject even though the exams are still far away. When we read, we understand. Then we can put the understanding to practice. BUT..this may not work fantastically with every subject..take maths for example. It's more to calculating, so, more on exercises!

5. Do more exercises.

Hmm..I bet we all know this already.. But we keep throwing this aside. So, I'm telling ya. This is full proof! The more exercises we do, the better we get. That's how our brain works. When we get used to stuff, things get easier. The only thing is, we have to make sure we're practicing right. Proper practice prevents poor performance. You might want to read that line again. A good way to practice is to start from the basics and move on as we get better. Then we'll master everything.

6. Keep calm and don't worry. 

Worry makes no money. I like that sentence. :D  Worrying brings nothing but a bad mood and restlessness. So let's just keep calm and do our best. Good luck in mastering that tough subject!

*If there's anything you would like me to add, do tell. Thanks!