Why I Failed my Exam?

Before I can go in depth to analyze the reasons behind my failure of the previous exam, I must confess that the primary reason is time mismanagement which is my personal responsibility. I think that I was unable to focus on my course material and did not give it enough time as I had planned before it was too late and I had a very little time to read more, which was not manageable. I am using this opportunity to write about my failure in the exam and introspect on the many reasons and what can be done in future to avoid such a situation. To start with, I will write one by one about the various reason contributing to my failure, apart from my lack of time management capabilities. As I write about these reasons, I will also be discussing different strategies that I would like to adopt to in future to avoid failure in exams.

Unable to study productively

I was unable to formulate a method that I could utilize to take the most of the course material. I think that I am aware of the various concepts that are discussed in the class and a part of the text book on international business but I had to divide the study material to study it in a specific flow and specific times. I was unable to first understand and then convert this understanding to a learning process.

The question is, how can be more productivity. I think that for my future exams, I will develop a to-do list about each course. I will prioritize different lessons and exercises and study with a proper tempo towards exams from the day I start the next classes. Time management would play an important role I this regard. Also, I would need to avoid activities that are not productive. For example, I have been spending a lot of time visiting my cousins who live at a distance from where I live. I go there and set with them talking about random topics that have no use in my studies.

Mismanagement issues in preparation for exams

I think that I could have managed to be able to be 70% prepared if I had properly prepared in the last week prior to the exam. I did get all the course material and knew what parts of the course will be contributing towards the exams. I think I choked. I did panicked. I could have utilized the last week efficiently and did a lot better that how I performed the way I did. I mean I could have secured a B grade and avoided the complete failure. I could have divided the whole week in parts and focused on the course material in a quick manner.

Can I avoid such mismanagement the next time I have an exam? I think why not. It is a matter of understanding that once you have wasted a lot of time, you need to be more focused instead of getting frustrated and lost in the little time you have prior to the exam. I would not let everything to accumulate to the last week. But, if I again fail in managing the few months before the exam properly, I would definitely have a plan for the little time I would have near to the next exam.

Did not have good class notes

To get the most out of a course, you have to be able to attend all or most of the classes and prepare you own notes. Unfortunately, I missed some of the classes and was unable to make notes of my own. Notes are important to revisit the class topic once more when you are back to your home in my opinion. I think that I could have contacted my classmates to help me with the class topic by providing a photocopy of the class notes they made. I did not do so and ended in a situation where I had to go through all the pages in the book, which I couldn’t.

In future, I would always keep a notebook with me and take it to each and every class to be able to take notes. When I take notes, I will definitely revisit them when I am back from the university in the evening and discuss any difficulties have with the course instructor in the next class.

Understanding different types of questions before exam

Even if you have memorized and understood all the course material, you must be able to understand what type of questions could be a part of the exam. I must confess that I am not good at fully understanding the questions that are expected in the exam. I must do better at understanding the questions prior to attempting to answer them.

While I was searching for strategies to understand different types of questions and how to answer them, I was able to know that you have to read the questions in depth before and during the exams to know what the examiner really expects from the students. I mean the examiner might be asking for a brief definition and the student might write a whole page wasting a lot of precious time. I will attempt different chapter exercises to be able to learn to understand different questions and also attempt them effectively.

Apart from the above issues and strategies to resolve these issues related to my recent failure in exams, I am also looking for more. I think that this is a great exercise to learn from one’s failures and be prepared the next time when faced with a similar challenge.