Taking the board exams is perhaps the culminating event for all courses that have one.
At one glance, people can easily and carelessly think or say things like "it's just another exam" or "you've been studying that for years, how hard can it be?" But in reality, or in the reality of those who have taken or will take the board exams, that's not entirely the case.
THE DIFFERENCE
Yes, inside the comforts of our classrooms, we do take exams much like that of the boards regards the purpose: to test us how much we have learned and understood, and how prepared we are to practice our chosen professions. But in real life, there is a world of difference between those exams that we take inside the classroom and the board exams.
For one, preparing for an ordinary exam is very different from if you're preparing for the boards. But more than the preparation, the main difference would have to be the weight of the consequence/s of the results of the board exams. In taking such exams inside the classroom, we have much more confidence than while we are taking the boards. This is because we have that "safety net" mentality; in which when we fail an exam in school, the gravity of the consequences of failing do not bear much weight as compared to when you fail the board exams. It follows that having such mentality, we believe that "we can always try again next quiz/exam" or that "we still have the removals, etc." as compared to failing the boards, you would have to repeat the long arduous months of preparation, of literally, sleepless nights, 24/7 experience of anxiety, and the feeling that your hormones are in overdrive, making you hypersensitive to any stimuli.
BOARDS:BIG
The BOARDS is a big word, and I mean it literally and metaphorically speaking. It is so big, just one month with it will bring about change/s in you in ways you can only imagine. The phrase, "make or break" applies; It can indeed make you a better person or it can break you inside-out. There are no gray areas; during the preparation, you'll be able to understand yourself more as well as the people around you.
THE CHANGES
The board exams is an agent of change: it will bring about a whole new you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Physically
During the months of preparation, it is indeed advisable that an examinee discover and establish a routine and a diet which would make him/her be at his/her most functioning capacity. A physically healthy mind and body is a necessity that one has to acquire and or maintain at least until the moment that you pass your last exam questionnaire and answer key to the proctor.
Eating the right foods is essential. I know you're thinking, "hell, I'm overworking myself, I should at least be able to eat anything that I want!" That's true, we people tend to overeat or retreat to comfort foods when we're stressed. But as the first sentence of this paragraph entails, it is essential and more advisable that even if we do eat a lot, we should at least 'eat right'.
The diet should include less carbs, and more food for the brains!
Bear with me as I describe some mechanisms or technicalities to help you understand why you should eat right during the boards season. According to studies, diets with high levels of carbohydrates have a negative effect on our level of consciousness. Dietary carbohydrate intake has been shown to increase the plasma concentration of tryptophan, a precursor of serotonin and sleep-inducing agent (Afaghi, et. al., 2007). Serotonin is an agent of the brain which induces a calm or relax state. It was found that meals with high levels of carbohydrates help to shorten the onset of sleep and thus, helps to induce sleep faster. Carbohydrates are generally thought of as good sources of energy since it readily converts glucose into energy. However, it is a double-edged blade, since not only do carbs have the least amount of energy stores, but high levels of carbohydrates function to increase insulin production of the body. The increased insulin would then result to a decrease in glucose levels in the blood, thus, less glucose can be converted into energy and excess carbs would only be stored as fat. This is certainly not what a board taker who will have to stay up all night to review every night would want to happen for a duration of three or more months.
A diet rich in brain foods is highly advisable. Brain foods include those with low glycemic index such as whole grains (e.g. brown cereals, wheat bran, whole grain bread), high levels of omega-3 fats (e.g. soya bean oil, and oily fishes such as tuna, salmon and sardines), lycopene and antioxidants which help to improve memory (e.g. tomatoes, blueberries, nuts), and vitamins, specifically, vitamin B12, which is known as the vitamin for the nerves. The fatty acids that can be derived from omega-3 help to strengthen synapses within the brain, thus helping to sharpen memory. While antioxidants regulate oxidative stress, which destroys brain cells. This stress is a result of the body's metabolism (i.e. conversion of glucose to energy, resulting to the release of free radicals in the body). Antioxidants block these free radicals from entering and accumulating in the brain. So, it means to say that it won't hurt to eat a handful of nuts and drink a cup of tea for your snack when you're feeling hungry than binging on an order or 2 of fast food.
I know it might sound impossible, but trying to squeeze in a few minutes of exercise, maybe 2 to 3 times a week, into your schedule is also advisable. Exercise helps release our body's endogenous "feel good" hormones, our endorphins, which would indeed help us feel more relaxed and focused on studying. Not to mention, since anxiety is probably taking its toll on your body, you might start to realize that you're being constipated as a result. Exercise helps to increase metabolism and improve digestion. Thus, by exercising, you hit three birds with one stone: physical fitness, relief of anxiety and a more sound mind and body for studying.
In my three months of review, all of us, maybe, except for one friend of mine who was dieting during our review, gained a few pounds or so. It may be attributable to the combination of stress, lack of exercise and improper diet. There even came a time when the saying, "you gained some," became ordinary to hear. So I suggest, if you would like to maintain a fit body, follow the two tips aforementioned.
Mentally
Mentally, there would come a time during the review when you feel like you can no longer take in any bit of information; like if you could describe your brains' memory capacity, it feels as if it is critically running low. So another tip for the boards is that you have to be able to choose to study only those that are deemed necessary --- or as they call it, only those that are "boards sensitive."
Remember: You can't know everything, and, you don't have to.
The board exams may get as factual as the Guinness book of world records, but let's face it, your brain cells can only store as much, unless you've started memorizing all of your books (in my case, physical medicine and rehabilitation books such as De Lisa, O'Sullivan, and Braddom), not to mention your notes and handouts, since your first day in college. But by then, come board exams, you'll be too knowledgeable that even the most basic and the simplest of questions would rattle you out.
Yes, the board exams may sometimes seem like a quiz bee; with questions seemingly taken from the moon. But that doesn't in itself mean that you have to know everything that's ever written. Perhaps, let me rephrase it --- you need only know those that are essential. Take into consideration the different kinds of information: (let's use this example to better illustrate the differences of each information --- taking a medicine/drug for diabetes mellitus type 1)
3. Nice to Know: these are pieces of information that you may or may not know because they are too factual or sometimes too 'specific'/'technical'. You may read it for leisure, but you don't really have to digest the information. For example (refer to the aforementioned situation), in my case, in occupational therapy, you need not know the exact details as to the chemical reactions when one drug is administered in the body, i.e. how a molecule complex binds to a specific alpha blah blah receptor and cleaves 2 molecules of ATP blah blah. But you may want to know number 2.
2. OK to Know: these are chunks of information that are related to those topics that you need to know by heart. In other words, these are supplemental information on the main topics of your course. For example, if I were studying the physiology of drug metabolism (in relation to number 3), I'd have to know where administered drugs are metabolized (i.e. liver - the specific part of the body that metabolizes the drug orally administered so that it may be transformed into a form that may be absorbed by the body so that it will be able to exert its effect), but I need not know "how much mole of energy, or kcal of something is needed to break away a molecule of something to attach to something to move from the plasma to the liver and back, and etc" --- that's information number 3. Get what I mean? But what you really should know is number 1.
1. Must Know: these are the bulks of information that one should be armed with before taking any exam. Most of the time, it consists of the basic principles or the essentials that form the foundations of each practice. For example, it is a must that therapists be knowledgeable on the effects, precautions and major side-effects of drugs administered to patients with DM 1 so that therapists are guided on their decision making regards the intervention that they would provide, as well as to the actions that they would take to prevent or alleviate such adverse side effects during therapy sessions.
See the difference? Take into mind these three kinds of information so as to conserve brain cells, and to not let precious memory space go to waste. Some lecturers would not advise this technique, i.e. "choosing" topics. But this is the reality of the board exams, with too little time and memory capacity, and too much information to read, sometimes, we've no choice but to choose.
And if the time comes that you really do have to choose, I say, 'choose intelligibly'.
Choosing intelligibly simply means that you don't just disregard a topic because it's hard to understand or because it's too complex; sometimes, that's actually where you really have to focus. Choosing intelligibly means that you choose the topics based on those that have recently surfaced as questions/topics on the previous board exams --- and that's how it becomes 'boards sensitive.'
So, you see, it's not just during elections when you can get to say, "choose wisely!"
Emotionally
If you have friends, and you decided to stay in one apartment during the review season, I suggest that each and every one of you keep in mind that during the preparation for the boards, everyone is high on hormones.
Meaning to say, it should be the responsibility of each and every one of you to ALWAYS, and I really mean, ALWAYS be sensitive and understanding. It is because there are only 2 seasons in a person's life (or only 1 if you're a male) in which his/her hormones are in overdrive: one is during pregnancy, and the other is during the boards season. Yes, think of it as if you are all pregnant. This can only mean one thing --- HYPERSENSITIVITY.
Talking from experience, this hypersensitivity has 2 roads.
1. Nega-Hypersensitive: super sensitive in a way that even the tiniest or minutest detail can make a person cry, laugh, or feel only-God-knows-what for reasons only-God-knows-why. As I've been emphasizing since the beginning of this article, the board exams is an agent of change, it may make your friendship stronger than ever, and or it can help you make new connections even with those you least expect. But, just like every continuum, it has a down side, the boards can also break bonds. It is sad that during this time, friends may turn on each other only because of even the tiniest and pettiest of misunderstandings. So I suggest that you be number 2...
2. Positive-Hypersensitive: super sensitive in a way that you try to notice the slightest change in mood or the minutest response to an action or conversation --- or notice just ANY REACTION/RESPONSE to anything at all and then, be understanding. For you may never know, that simple "ok" response to a joke you usually say to each other may have actually meant, "f*** you." And this could go on and on, until it accumulates, and keep on accumulating... until one day it blows up in all of your faces.
As much as possible, try not to spark ANY fire. You would never, in your wildest dreams, want ANY kind of drama during the boards. The boards is enough drama as it is.
So be hypersensitive - positively!
Spiritually
Of course, in every battle, one must always be armed with this one thing --- FAITH.
Faith is taking the first step forward even if one doesn't see the staircase.
One cannot go into battle without faith. During this season, all kinds of your energy may be drained, but never should your faith in God be drained. For in the end, this is the only weapon that we have. We may have the best teachers, the best review center, the best reviewers, all the comfort foods, the best study place and buddies, etc, but if it is not the will of God, we will fail the board exams. In the end, it is only our faith in Him that would suffice. Atheists wouldn't understand, they'd say that we write our own destinies. Yes, that's true. But it is still in His hands in which we try to write. And when Thy hands move, the only thing that we can do is to follow.
The boards is not just a season of studying from sunrise until sunset. It is also a season of prayer and faith. For it is already but a blessing that your body did not fall ill during the review, or that you have family and friends who support you, or that you are enrolled in a review center where they teach you songs, and techniques; every blessing should be noted and thanked for.
There is a saying, which I think every student should know even for at least once in their life, and it goes like this:
Faith should not be equated to fear. It is okay to feel anxious and nervous before the boards. But one should not fear. We may not know what the future holds, but knowing Who holds the future makes a great difference. So study hard, but pray harder!
During my time, we dedicated one day to visit different churches where we said our little prayers of hope, wrote short petitions for our families and for our future, and lit candles asking for His light. Some of the churches we visited were Quiapo and Baclaran churches, St. Jude at Mendiola's Place, St. Therese in Mayon St., one church in Legarda, St. Claire near LRT Katipunan station, and Our Lady of Good Voyage in Antipolo. We even had a pilgrimage to visit Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan after the board exams. One can also pray novenas such as that of St. Jude or Padre Pio's. One need not have a hard copy, for I didn't. I only searched the net. I found one site that has many prayers for the board taker. You may check it by clicking the link.
So you see, the board exams season is no season to be taken lightly. It is not only just a key to being able to practice your chosen profession, but also a means to be able to achieve a sense of fulfillment. For passing the boards with a national passing rate of 40% is really something, and it means a lot not only to you but most importantly, to your parents or to whomever supported you and your studies for God knows how many long years. This blog cannot even do justice to the weight of the boards. So for every board taker out there, I salute you.
At the moment, passing the boards may feel like it's your everything, but try to bear in mind, that this is not who you are. It is merely but a part of you.After you have understood this, I hope that you'll feel better and that it eases your anxiety even for a bit. Because that is the reality, passing the boards is a huge blessing, even bigger if you topped it. But failing it doesn't mean it's the end of the world. We may not understand 'why?' now, but someday, we will. For if there is something I've learned about failing, it's that it helps us to learn how to pick ourselves up and rise again --- Life, after all, isn't failure-free.
'Til my next nobelablog, xo
-KESO, OTRP
References:
Afaghi, A. et. al. (2007). High glycemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 85; pp. 426-430.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-foods-boost-your-brainpower
