scribble.scrabble.scrawl.

Studying away from my hometown gives me the feeling of “homesickness”. Constantly, I think of my family and my friends, and that they are the primary reasons why I want to go back every now and then. Well, that is just the case for most freshmen in college. I am three hours away from home and sometimes I just cannot go because of many reasons and one of them is what most students dread: exam.

I must admit that I am not as good as others in my high school most especially when it comes to mathematics. I not only feared the numbers that I try to solve, but I cringe at the thought of what my score would be. I mean, it was probably the sole reason why I could not budge the lady who owned the top honor in class. Her average was way beyond mine, and with that, I accepted my fate as the second best in the batch. In addition to that, I always thought that I was procrastinating! And I do not know why. Every time there was a math exam, I come as if unprepared despite hours spent, studying. Numbers were really bugging me day in, day out. I did not have as much a problem with my other subjects and I considered math as my number one enemy, wondering what the purposes (of line graphs, variables, and numbers that can increase or decrease exponentially) could be in life.

But now that I am in college, I appreciated my high school for bombarding me with math lessons concerning basic and advance algebra, statistics, trigonometry, geometry, accounting, and even calculus! It is as if math came to me as a review now, especially in my first semester as a freshman. And I am now happy because finally, I constantly held the top position during math exams. What an achievement!

But then, the down side of this is that I usually cannot go home, because its exam is always scheduled late in the afternoon, and I do not travel by night because I think it is too dangerous. But my accomplishments in the subject felt like being able to breathe after a long time of keeping air in. It is as if I finally inhaled oxygen! Or the feeling is tantamount to eating the best of Chinese cuisine, and being able to savor the different flavors in the dish after a long period of suffering from fever and colds, which disabled the function of my taste buds. 

A lot of people asked me what I did, but I really am not the type of person who is too keen to give pieces of advice or tips, but due to my “unrelenting success”, I thought of it twice and decided to give it a go. I must say that there is a technique that I try to do when it comes to Algebra and a series of steps may help others too to improve their problem on numbers. 

First, it is a must for a student to memorize not only various formulas and steps, but also the multiplication table. Calculators may be banned in the exam, and solving manually may take time! Everything must start from here because without knowing this, one may have difficulty in answering Algebra as it involves a lot of multiplication.

Second, learn how to copy what the teacher says or writes on the board, especially examples he uses and steps shown on how to arrive to the correct answer. These shall be useful as one study for an exam. Therefore, he or she must from now on, listen in class. This is important because learning from other sources can be mind-boggling! 

And third, your notes would be useless if you are not going to utilize it. Practice can prepare anyone for the exam. It can be done by trying to solve examples on your own through the problems you have taken down. Do not cheat. Go through all your lessons, and do not skip. Concentrate. When one has finally understood the flow of solutions, I must say that he or she is already prepared for the big E.

But all of these will go to waste if one is not relaxed before the big day. In order for this not to happen, I follow a sort of ritual before I take the math exam. It starts the day before the test.  

It is a prerequisite for me to be able to sleep at least eight hours a day so that I will not fall asleep, as it is my prevention against mental block! I just close my eyes until I yawn and situate myself in my most comfortable sleeping position. 

After waking up from slumber, I must take a good breakfast, but I go slowly on carbohydrates as science has proven that they can make one’s mind not alert and may fall asleep. I do not want that to happen while I am taking my exam! Instead, I munch more on proteins. 

After eating, I do the usual stuff in the bathroom. And then, when I am about to leave, I do not forget to bring with me menthol candies, and a calculator just in case my professor permits us to use it. And oh, I also bring my own writing instruments as borrowing from others could take a lot of time. 

When I arrive at the venue, I review formulas and important procedures I believe I am most likely to forget. And when the time comes for the exam, I whisper a prayer to God, to cast away all my anxieties before answering. 

Now the first thing I do after receiving the test paper is to take a deep breath, at least twice just to shove off the nervousness.  And then, I go over at the test paper; looking for items I may not understand or read. If ever I find one, I consult the teacher right away. 

After that, I start solving step by step, but as fast as I could. I first use a pencil when answering so I can still erase when I make a mistake and just rewrite them with a ballpoint pen after I am through. I seldom use shortcuts too because they might confuse me, unless I have really mastered the technique. But I do not force myself to answer a number I cannot solve. Instead, I skip and go back to it once I am through with the rest.

After solving the last problem and making sure that I have rewritten what I have to using a ball pen, I review by seeing to it that each item has an answer. After doing so, I try to check if I had the correct solution per item. If I am short of time, I only check the parts of the tests, which contain big points. 

After the exams are through, I celebrate! I treat myself with food, or just a fun day at the arcade. When the results have finally come out, you, like me, might want to follow a procedure when you saw that you topped math. This is what I call “the Drama for Math”.

First, to guarantee that I have really topped math (the next steps may not be applicable to you if you did not top the exam), I go to the room early, when nobody is still there to intrigue me about my success. 

After confirming, I go back to the dorm and dress appropriately for the applause I will hear later on in class. Well, that is aside from the congratulatory remarks I will get from my classmates. 

Then, as soon as I get back to the place, I act normal as if I did not know about the result. If you have plans on doing this drama, which I strongly suggest that most people do, do not show the slightest expression that you know the result. Be humble, even if you know you cannot! The teacher shall be the official one to say in class about my achievement. I do not believe what my classmates are saying. In fact, I treat them like liars. And when the result has finally been announced, this is the time I ask them for forgiveness like a sinner who repents for his sins and for not believing. 

But before I apologize, I make sure that I first had made an act. Sometimes I try to be crazy by laughing hard, or a dramatic actor by showing that tears are indeed falling from my eyes. But if I do not feel like doing any of those, I portray the show business personalities interviewed on television, and say “no comment.” But this actually depends on my mood, so make sure that when you do this, listen to what your frame of mind tells you to do. After all, it would be easier to dramatize. 

And finally, when everyone has received his or her test paper, I do not compare. Why? How would you feel if someone tries to recheck your exam, and if they are lucky enough, they may find mistakes that can be deducted from your score? I would be mad as a cow! Instead, when someone borrows, I make my reply more meaningful by first, bowing my head, to the right so it will look a little dramatic. Then, I raise my hand with my fist open, and slowly, I bring each finger close to the palm, except my index finger, which shall remain standing. And then, I move the said finger to the right, and then to the left. And say, “no way”.

It is but natural for the person to get angry, but I rather stay calm. They cannot force me if I do not want to!  A lot of people got mad at me because of this, but I did not care. I just do not want people to scrutinize my paper. Furthermore, I feel it is an invasion of privacy especially when someone reads your paper without permission. 

Well, after the exam and the results, usually, there is nothing left for me to do but to go home. This is what I cared more about anyway! After all, taking my math exam was always the reason why I could not leave the dormitory premises. I immediately pack my stuff, making sure I have not forgotten any. I always could not contain my excitement because I cannot wait to share to my family and friends the unbelievable success I just had had. Moreover, I am excited of what their expressions may be. After packing, I sleep early to prepare myself for a long travel going back home. Once, when I finally got home, I told them what I have accomplished. It was such a great feeling when I informed them that I was a “topnotcher”! I felt like the best comedian of the Oscars because they ridiculously laughed at me for doing a stint just for an exam result! And so I chuckled too, thinking that they were laughing as an expression of happiness for my achievement.