Unlucky Test Taker

Don't you hate it when your mind goes blank on a test you studied for or when you start second guessing yourself? Or when you study the textbook material and nothing from the book comes out in the test? This is what happened to me for my first Bio test. I barely passed when I should have aced it. Not only did I make silly mistakes, but what's worse is that  when I looked back at the questions I got wrong, I knew the answer! Why did I get them wrong? This not only occurs to me, but to students who get nervous over an exam, which shouldn't even be considered that big of a deal. Knowing the information, or at least thinking one does, and then passing the test with a borderline grade is quite devastating. It makes one feel obtuse, despite knowing the answers.

I am so mad at myself because I need this for my major. I spent hours studying from the textbook, not using my common sense, because if I had used it I would have known to go straight to the review questions instead. On top of poor time management skills, not realizing the practice questions from Mastering Biology would come out was quite stupid of me. They were all there, word for word! This will certainly never happen to me again! The point is, that common sense sometimes eludes us and we just need to get it back. And, there's no such thing as a silly mistake. Mistakes will only seem silly if one doesn't fix them. So from now on, I need to stop wasting time, and go straight to the point. I need to make corrections on the test, scratch every distracting word that eliminates wrong answer choices, pay attention to the wording of every question, and to not read the textbook anymore! Actually, reading it after doing the Mastering Biology questions would be more useful.

So the point of this tedious self-critique is to evince how mistakes can often lead to good results. They strengthen us into learning from them, because that's ultimately life. Life is full of mistakes, and imperfections arebound to happen. When they do, one has to cling to their attitude of perseverance amidst the darkness and not become defeated. There's always a second chance, and like my mother says, " Everything in life can be fixed, except death." Getting a silly C will not be the death of my report card, but the beginning of effort, dedication,and perseverance.