So because the Psychometrician Licensure Exam is already around the corner and I’m trying to find some motivation on studying for the National Medical Admission Test this coming October, I decided to write this post about my journey to RPm last year. Can’t even believe it was a year already! I can still clearly feel the and nerve-racking moments while waiting for the results of the exam and the bliss after. Honestly up to now I still find it hard to believe that I made it and was included in the board topnotchers.
So during our last semester in college we have the subject Current Issues in Psychology wherein we were supposed to organize various seminars for the class. But as a support of the academe for our preparation for the board exam, it turned into some sort of a crash review class, one whole day to run through each subject. So I think that jumpstarted our review. Then me and my friends and few of our blockmates enrolled at Spark Review Center. The review class started on February 2015 and that was a whole day session every Sunday. It was a huge auditorium and we always occupy the front row even though I always hated sitting at the first row of the class…but that really helped on focusing in the lectures. During that time, we were finalizing our thesis, preparing for the thesis defense, and completing other requirements so we weren’t able to really focus on the review not until around April when we’re done complying with all the requirements and deadlines and we’re just waiting for our graduation.
Because I was so anxious for the board exam, I started scanning and reading our old textbooks early on.. but because I’m such a huuuge procrastinator ever since, I was able to finish just few pages from time to time. We really didn’t take the board seriously at first because we felt like 3 months was more than enough and that ‘hey-we-need-a-break-we-just-graduated-from-college-feeling’. But since because I was a little bit grade-conscious haha, I tried to motivate myself to study no matter what. And also because we have that mock exam at school wherein we have to pay I think more or less Php1000 and if we don’t pass it they will not give us our TOR, diploma and other requirements to take the board exam (very unfair right?). Plus, at our review class, they give credit to the highest scores (I’m so GC LOL).
Then suddenly we’re down to a month left. Panic alarm goes and here’s where the real review and “pag-susunog ng kilay” starts. But to make the long post short here are some tips which helped me a lot especially on the motivation part 😉
- I installed a countdown app on my phone so that the first thing I saw when I wake up is the days-hours-minutes-seconds left before the board exam. Nerve-racking waking moments LOL. This one’s quite effective though for my procrastination-ings 😛
- I uninstalled all the distractions on my phone (FB, Twitter, Instagram,Tumblr, 9gag, COC). I managed not to open my social networking accounts the for more or less a month I think.
- I made a study plan/ review schedule. I did make a study plan at the early part of my review but since I was running out of time, I made a schedule for each day to cover several topics on each of the subject. That time I wake up very early, around 3 am to 5 am to start studying (and to download movies while studying since the internet is really fast at those time). I study almost the whole day except for lunch and snack breaks and sometimes nap breaks. I also watch series/ movies while having lunch (dahil nakakaumay mag-aral and most of the time I feel like food gets better when you’re watching series especially Korean dramas, TWD or GOT haha). I also tried that for every 30 mins of studying you take 5 minutes break etc.
- I kept a list (a long long list) of the new terms/ topics/ concepts that I encounter during lectures, discussions, exams and then go through it after. Don’t stop until you crossed out everything on that list. Try to just familiarize yourself on those, who knows? that might be the 1 point difference that will help you reach the passing rate 😉
- I record the lectures in our review class. Sometimes, what I do is to just listen at the lectures then at home I listen to the voice records and then take down notes or vice versa.
- From time to time, I try to answer again the sample exams given from there review center then take note of the topics that I still get confused at.
- Read. Read. Read. As much as possible, try to read the textbooks from cover to cover or if you can’t, even the chapter summary will help. This one is the most important and most helpful. You should not settle on the handouts that the review centers give you. No one’s sure what will come out on the exam and the surest way is to study as much as possible. Also, I make my own reviewers which really helps a lot. The process of reading and writing it down (or typing it I you’re a bit lazy like me) really helped in the retention of the terms and key concepts.
- Reward yourself for your effort. After the mock exams, treat yourself some comfort food, go watch a movie, watch your favorite series, spend some time with your family and pets.
- Aim not just to get a passing rate but aim to top the board exam. I thought it was really impossible for me. I wasn’t the top in the class. I’m no genius. I’m not from the big universities. Yes I do get good grades but that’s because I really do study hard. I’m not like those geniuses who ace the exam even without studying.
- Above all those, I think what really helped us the most is prayer. Really, it’s important. There will be times when you’ll feel like passing the board exam seems just too impossible for you and the only thing you can hold on to is your hope and your trust in God. Don’t forget to still go to the Church and make time for your daily devotions/ quiet time. I believe you can try to do everything that you can do to pass the exam but at the end of the day it’s all up to Him. The board exam was also a test of faith for me. What if I failed? Would I had turned my back on Him? Would that change my faith in Him? On the process, I learned to just surrender all my worries to Him.
It’s really important to not let the pressure get into you. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Yes, it’s important to study hard but don’t forget to balance it out and reward yourself for all your effort. If you fail, it’s okay. It will not be the end of your world. At least you know you tried and did something for it. It’s totally normal to fail sometimes. Don’t be afraid to try again. Don’t even think about what others would say if you fail. They may say words that might hurt, but it will only if you’ll let them.
Here’s a quote for you :). Though this have a lot of variations and it’s not certain if it’s from Aristotle, Plato or Albert Einstein…this really inspired me to just keep on studying and learning.
“The more you learn, the more you’ll realize how much little you know.”
So there fellow psych majors and future psychometricians, don’t worry too much. You can do it! God bless! 🙂
Sonder 