Night before an examination
Examination, whether
a college annual or a university final, gives some fright to all students. It
is, after all, an uncertainty, a venture in the dark. None, not even the most
prepared examiner, can ever be sure of the best outcome expected of the
examination. Questions may be exceptionally stiff and deceptive: the time may not suffice to answer all the question. These and other possibilities keep
rising and falling in the mind of the examiner and as such, his tension goes on
mounting. And, finally, the tension rises to the peak on the night before the
trial examination.
Every student is
suddenly faced with the striking reality of the examination on the night before
the day of commencement. As he seeks to review his progress, he finds the
preparation imperfect. He tries to recapitulate in his mind some of those he
has read, prepared or memorized. The memory seems to be giving way. That makes
him all the more nervous. He tries to enjoy a restful sleep at the night and face
the ordeal next day with a composed mind and unruffled brain.
But is it as easy sleeping as resolving, No, not for an excitable
student. The brain has its own way of behaving. Even in bed, when best efforts
are made to induce sleep, the brain, refusing to co-operate, keeps wandering
about, often stealing into the pages of the books or calling back to mind some distant suggestion
made by a professor in the class. Again and again, questions and answers, important
and unimportant questions and such other anti- sleep things occur in the mind.
Thus hours roIl by tiIl about midnight when a nap visits the tossing student
which, however, is broken shortly by a fearful dream.
If, however, the student
is by nature unexcitable, he can have an undisturbed sleep and rise from bed
next morning with a refreshed mind and renewed energy. He often gets up early
in the small hours of morning and glances over the book or books with a calm attention.
The last moment review is very useful and he makes the best of it by virtue of
his natural sedateness.
The mental condition
varies also between a negligent and a serious student. Rather, whether a
student will get nervous at the eleventh hour depends largely on how far he has
neglected or minded his business throughout the months preceding the test. If
he has neglected his studies, he will invariably feel somewhat perturbed at the
closing hours. On the other hand, good preparation main help to calm down the
mental agitation.
In fact, the night before an examination is a night of
anxiety and peculiar experience. To overcome the trouble of this night the examiners
should prepare their lessons much earlier and try to pass this night with a normal
state of mind.
