The advice I am going to give you today will be regarded by many of you as incredibly unsound. Yet I believe that from an ethical stand point, the advice is incredibly sound. The majority of people reading this are high school/college/graduate students and no doubt will be familiar with examinations. What are examinations? That are big tests. You are crammed in a room for up to three hours, and must answer questions on the course you have just taken with little reference other than your own recollection.

Exams can take many forms - Multiple Choice (easiest of all), a number of small questions (2 or 3 marks each) followed by a couple of big questions (say 25 marks each), and Essay Papers have no doubt been undertaken by most, if not all people reading. No matter the format, the exam still serves the same purpose; to assess how much of the course material you have understood. Remember that final word. UNDERSTOOD.

So how do most people prepare for exams? The 'keeno' students will spend days creating lavish revision time tables, so that they can spend time learning the material that will be present in the exam. A typical student will simply revise in their evenings when it is convenient for them. Some 'lazy' people may simply try and cram in as much revision as possible the night before the exam, and hope that it's still in there come nine o'clock the next day. Which category do I fall into? None of the above.

Let's skip back and have a look at the purpose of an examination: 'to assess how much of the course material you have understood.'

That final word. Understood. UNDERSTOOD DOES NOT MEAN REMEMBERED. It is possible for somebody who didn't attend classes for a particular subject to acheive a pass relatively easily if they take the time to read enough of the notes the night before. Therefore the examination is not testing that student's understanding of the subject at all, but rather their ability to remember facts read the previos night.

It is at this point where you need to stop and think about the reasons you have for going to school/college/university. If you are there in the hope that fantastic grades will help you get a job that rakes in a fat wad of cash every month, then feel free to revise away, but you won't see me when you get to hell. Education should not be seen as merely a way of getting qualifications. If you're that desperate for qualifications, you can buy them on the internet. No. Education is a means of making yourself better.

Self improvement is perhaps the most fundamental of my core beliefs. If you do not strive to make yourself better each day, what purpose do you have existing? With this in mind, I do not see university as a vessel to gaining qualifications so that I can get a well-paid job. I am there to LEARN. If I do not learn anything then I have wasted my time and my money. Even if I came out with a first class honours degree, but had learned nothing I didn't already know, I would have wasted by time and money. Conversely, if I came out with a third class degree, but had learned a great deal, then the time and money spent would not be wasted.

People ask why I chose difficult subject over easy ones. My answer is simple. I chose the subjects I find most interesting. I'm not looking for 'easy passes', I'm looking for interesting material that will improve my knowledge.

So, going back to the 'revision categories', if I am a member of none of those groups, how do I revise. The answer is simple. I don't. I want the exams to test my understanding, not my memory. In this way, a high grade is improved tenfold, because it means I am further along the road to self-perfection.



I feel it necessary to give this disclaimer: I am not responsible for any resultant bad grades due to my counsel today (and anyway, if you really undersand the message, you won't be that bothered by poor grades anyway.)