Spring has sprung and so has the need to start preparing for your AP exams.  You know those little cummulative tests taken each May by students in high school hoping to achieve a successful score that could earn credit and advanced placement in college.  No big deal, right?  After all, it’s just a little two-to-four hour test with the most challenging questions that could send even the most gifted individual into a full-blown panic attack. Have you started to sweat yet?  Well, no worries!  Drops of Ink is here to help you out with some humorous ways to relieve your tension.  Just follow some of these helpful studying suggestions, and we are sure you will meet the AP challenge with success.

Study Tip One:  Music

Well, yes, music does soothe the savage beast, but music could also be used to calm the nerves of the anxious teen whose head is about to explode from the stress of an upcoming AP test.  Although many musical genres do exist, don’t choose music that is soothing.  That can just put you to sleep and waste valuable studying time.  Instead, we suggest heavy metal, head-banging music that will shake up those neurons into helping you think through those difficult challenges. What better way to annoy your parents and stay awake?  Why not try Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out for Summer.”  After all, “we got no choice” but to study for those exams.

Study Tip Two:  Bathroom Breaks

Have you ever noticed that when you are nervous you have to pee?  Just count how many times you go to the bathroom during one hardcore study session.  You might be surprised how many minutes you are wasting on the john. Well, stop wasting time during your waste time.  Sit on the toilet with your notes!  If you are there long enough, you will not even have to waste any toilet paper.  You can drip dry while learning!  An economical and time-saving solution to those many minutes that accumulate into hours wasted in the bathroom.

Study Tip Three: Food

Everyone knows that food provides you with energy, but have you ever thought of using food as a trick to keep you going through your studies?  Just place a favorite food item or sweet treat between each page of your studies.  As soon as you finish one page, reward yourself with the food item that is awaiting you on the next page.  This little trick is not only tantalizing, but is a sure way to add those few pounds you will be burning off due to the stress of studying.   Disclaimer: your notes may stick together, but that is just one less page you have to go over.

Study Tip Four: Note cards

Ahh, the famous notecard trick.  A favorite little tool that helps people believe that if a term is placed on the front of the card, then the definition can be studied from the back.  Good idea, but when a cummulative test occurs and one ends up with more than 300 notecards, that could be a little cumbersome, even for the most studious individual.  Might we suggest the 300-card pickup game.  Throw all the notecards up in the air and the ones that land term up, study.  Keep doing this until all the cards have been reviewed.  If you are lucky, you may lose some in the process.  May the odds be ever in your favor.

Study Tip Five:  Down Time

Now, everyone needs a little down time while studying.  Let’s face it, your brain can only hold so much information.  There are those who believe in sleeping with cats, better known as a cat nap, and there are those who need to watch a little Netflix.  What better way to have your brain relax than watch an entire series in one sitting?  But, we have a better suggestion when downtime is needed.  We suggest relaxing with a good book or magazine.  Perhaps reading the entire April issue of Drops of Ink will sooth that aching brain.

Study Tip Six: Exercise

Exercise, the excruciating art of moving your body in ways that can only leave you in pain, is highly suggested.  Look at it this way, if your abs, legs, and/or arms hurt, then you can complain about them instead of your AP test.  Talk about diverting your mental pain to a physical one!  It is one way of hating something more than taking an AP test.

Study Tip Seven:  Use Mnemonic Devices

A mnemonic device is a technique a person can use to help them improve their ability to remember something.  In other words, it is a way to help your brain recall important information.  It is usually simple, clear, and vivid, such as using the device CRAP when it comes to AP exams.  We all know that is how we feel about the AP exams, but if you Cram Rigorously to Avoid Problems, you should be successful.

In all sincerity, the most important thing for you to do is eat, sleep, study, and repeat.  Don’t let this time of year get the best of you.  Your teachers have prepared you, and now it’s up to you to show them that you were listening.   So take a deep breath and apply what you have learned during your studies.  Your body and brain will thank you and so will everyone else when you ace those AP exams.  On behalf of the DOI staff … Good luck!