This blog post is quite hard for me to type, I almost didn't want to share but what's the point of having a blog if you can't be completely open and honest. On Friday I received my uni results for this semester; one of the classes was an ungraded pass or fail and I passed, the other class 'Alterations in Health' was graded on the normal system (pass, credit, distinction, high distinction). I was expecting to see a distinction not only because I always do well in these types of classes but because I had received a great mark in my mid term exam. When I got the text I checked it with excitement but to my shock I saw a credit. It is only my second credit in my entire time at uni and my first credit was in a class that I really didn't like so I wasn't all that fussed. I was devastated! I texted my mum and nanny to let them know but also to say that I didn't want to talk, it took me a whole day to tell my partner the results.
Today I went in to review my exam and when I got there, there was already a group of girls reviewing there exams. They all seemed quite happy and I overheard one of them say "I am more than happy with that mark". Of course that only served to make me feel worse. Looking at my exam I found where i had gone wrong; in my last exam I did really well but I lost one or two marks here and there for not providing quite enough detail, my tutor explained to me that I might want to try a flow chart to answer these questions and help with the detail. This exam I attempted the flow chart method rather than my usual method of dot points and writing lots and it seems that this failed me. I was not able to make the connections as well as I can when I write. As disappointing as it is it does make me feel better to know that my only failure was not being able to explain myself properly and not that I didn't understand the content.
I have learnt that if you have a system that works for you then you may want to think twice about changing it, particularly in a final exam situation. This is not to discredit the tutor or their methods, this particular tutor is a favourite of mine and his methods are wonderful it was just that this particular method didn't work for me. So I know a lot of my mentors out there will be telling me "Ps get degrees" but for any students out there who are perfectionists like me my advice is to practice new methods before unleashing them in an exam setting and also make sure you don't get bogged down with marks as long as you make sure that you understand the content and can provide safe care then that matters more than marks!
Finally I want to share with everyone a really cute shirt that I designed, perfect for all the nurses out there and they would make a great Christmas present. Check out http://teespring.com/nursemiracleworker1 to take a look. Only 9 days left to order yours so don't miss out!!!
Thanks so much for your time every one and I hope you have a great week!
- Just Another Student Nurse
Today I went in to review my exam and when I got there, there was already a group of girls reviewing there exams. They all seemed quite happy and I overheard one of them say "I am more than happy with that mark". Of course that only served to make me feel worse. Looking at my exam I found where i had gone wrong; in my last exam I did really well but I lost one or two marks here and there for not providing quite enough detail, my tutor explained to me that I might want to try a flow chart to answer these questions and help with the detail. This exam I attempted the flow chart method rather than my usual method of dot points and writing lots and it seems that this failed me. I was not able to make the connections as well as I can when I write. As disappointing as it is it does make me feel better to know that my only failure was not being able to explain myself properly and not that I didn't understand the content.
I have learnt that if you have a system that works for you then you may want to think twice about changing it, particularly in a final exam situation. This is not to discredit the tutor or their methods, this particular tutor is a favourite of mine and his methods are wonderful it was just that this particular method didn't work for me. So I know a lot of my mentors out there will be telling me "Ps get degrees" but for any students out there who are perfectionists like me my advice is to practice new methods before unleashing them in an exam setting and also make sure you don't get bogged down with marks as long as you make sure that you understand the content and can provide safe care then that matters more than marks!
Finally I want to share with everyone a really cute shirt that I designed, perfect for all the nurses out there and they would make a great Christmas present. Check out http://teespring.com/nursemiracleworker1 to take a look. Only 9 days left to order yours so don't miss out!!!
Thanks so much for your time every one and I hope you have a great week!
- Just Another Student Nurse