Things That Can Go Wrong During Exam Day

Are you scared that on the morning of your HSC trials or actual HSC exam,something might happen that would affect your ability to do the exam? It is nottoo bad if something's serious enough to warrant an illness / misadventureclaim. For example, if your train breaks down and it's verifiable over the news,or you're unable to attend due to some illness that can be documented by amedical certificate.

But what about the little things that won't quite warrant a misadventureclaim?

For example, are you one of many students who are scared of getting a stomachache at the start of your morning exam? How bad would that be, having a stomachache in the first 5 minutes of your exam? Or getting some sort of cramp, chestpain, headache etc. These 'small' mishaps would be difficult to.

Let's face it, during the HSC year, some students are so dedicated to exampreparation that they don't get much exercise for the whole year, and by theend of the year, they are not exactly in their healthiest shape. Also, theamount of nervousness experienced by HSC students doing an exam that is worthup to 50% of their total HSC assessment can play all sorts of tricks onto ourbodies.

There's a few things you can do to minimise the chance of experiencing somesort of mishap:

Tip ONE: sleep early

Sleeping early reduces the chance of getting a headache in the morning. Youwon't feel drowsy on your way to your exam, and you won't need to drink coffee/ Red Bull etc to wake up a second time before you start your early morningexams.

Don't study the night before your exam. Prepare for an early night's rest.Watch some TV, do some recreational reading, drink some milk and go to bedearly. If you know you can't fall asleep early, you'll need to prepare startingfrom a few days beforehand, where you sleep progressively earlier each night.

Tip TWO: don't eat the wrong breakfast

Some foods will make you get stomach aches. For example, for people who arelactose-intolerant, drinking milk in the morning (e.g. with cereal) may causestomach aches and the need to go to the toilet in the middle of your exam.That's definitely something to be avoided.

It's a good idea to find out early whether you have any issues with certainfoods eaten in the morning, and whether they cause you any discomfort shortlyafterward. Be sure to avoid those foods on critical days like exam days whereyou can't afford to have any distractions.

Tip THREE: warm your hands before you start writing

This is a nice little trick. Have you noticed it is hard to write fast whenyour hands are cold? That is because like all muscles in the body, hand musclescontract slower when cold. The ideal temperature is body temperature, that'swhen your hands are at the same temperature as your body (37°C) and you canwrite the fastest.

With Australia'swinters getting colder every year, this is becoming more of a problem,especially if you have an early morning exam that starts at 8:45am. So it is a good idea to warm your hands (e.g.rubbing them together, wear gloves, put your hands in your pockets, sit on themif you need to) before you start writing.