The stress, the anxiety, competition and pressure from parents and teachers can leave us feeling all over the place, and it usually results in all kinds of weird behaviour.
Here are some of the things most of us end up doing before sitting for that big exam.
1# Turning into serial note-takers
We've all been there. Suddenly, everything needs to be turned into notes.
Small pieces of paper with tiny writing and endless pointers litter your table.
A day before the exam, things turn so bad that you even have to have notes for your notes because how else do you keep track of all that information right?
2# Locking yourself in the room to "study" (but doing everything else under the sun)
The books are right in front of you, but all you can think about is that viral Tik Tok dance or that amazing video of that "singing dog" that you have to watch a million times.
You take a break to relax and turn on your phone to scroll for a second.
The next thing you know, a second has turned into several hours, and you've learnt about the history of alien abductions, how to start a hydroponic garden and learnt that there's a rare spider that looks like it's a smirking clown in Madagascar, but nothing is related to your exams.
Die!
3# Highlighting half the textbook
This is a close relative to the serial-note taker (refer to point #1).
You have six chapters to look through, and you buy highlighters to help pinpoint the most critical portions so your brain can absorb them with ease.
At the end of the six chapters, your brain is dead, and your textbook is more lit than your life has ever been.
#4 Turning into an emotional wreck
It's 2am, and you've got what looks like 8 million pages to go.
You start the hour determined to try and get as much information in.
By the first 5 minutes, you start having panic attacks.
This then turns to feelings of self-loathing, hatred for the world, tears of fear and lastly, stress and acceptance that failure is the only option.
Then your brain kicks in and tells you to give it one last shot.
The emotional cycle commences again..
5# Excessively stressing over stationary
When you know that there's no point stressing about all those chapters you did not bother or tak sempat to read, you worry about the small stuff instead.
You check and recheck (and check again) to see if you've brought all the stationary you need for that paper.
"Do I have my ruler, calculator, protractor set? Do I have my 2B pencil? Maybe I should just bring 20 sets... just in case."
In the end, you don't remember anything you revised and also forget the most essential tool for an unsure student. Your eraser!
#6 Becomming extra religious
When procrastination is your first, middle and last name, God is always your best(est) friend when exams are near.
You start your day with a prayer, begin revisions with a prayer, head to the exam hall while repeatedly praying and continue with a short prayer right before opening your exam paper.
Your plea to God, "Just let me pass. I promise to be a better *insert religion here*."
After the exams, all promises are forgotten until the day before you get your results. Prayers fill your life again.
Projek: Anchor SPM
If the listicle above brings back some memories (hopefully, good ones!), well, you'll definitely like 'Projek: Anchor SPM'.'Projek: Anchor SPM' is a teen-centred drama set in a fictitious boarding school called Tengku Isa Anuar School (STIA) located in Cameron Highlands.
The students at this school wear sweaters, play rugby and have school jerseys which they don with pride.
While the whole look may be quite different from the usual sekolah menengah, the students there still face the same headache - scoring straight A's for SPM.
And that's the whole premise of the story.
Popular student and captain of the rugby team Aizat (Aedy Ashraf) keeps getting into trouble and is eventually given an ultimatum by his headmaster Awang (Adlin Aman Ramlie) to either score 8 A's in his SPM or be expelled.
Pressured and pushed to a corner, Aizat comes up with a clever plan to get the school brainiac Aaidaa (Daiyan Trisha) to help him and the whole batch score by cheating during the exams.
Together with a host of colourful friends played by actors Sasha Abedul, Nadhir Nasar (Champion of 'Hero Remaja 2020') Chubb-E (Winner of Most Popular New Artist at the '33rd Anugerah Bintang Popular BH') and more, the students go through all sorts of challenges in an attempt to beat the system.
Also starring in the series are popular actors Hasnul Rahmat (Best Supporting Actor at the 30th Malaysian Film Festival), Tony Eusoff and Susan Lankester.
You can catch the season finale of 'Projek: Anchor SPM' this coming Monday (3 May) at 9pm on Astro Citra (CH108). If you want to catch up on the series, you can stream all episodes of it on Astro GO and On Demand.