How to ace that exam: Tips from a KCSE top performer

I wrote my KCSE exam at Kiambu High School and, by God's grace, scored an A of 84 points.

I sincerely thank all those who made this possible, including my teachers and other school staff, my parents, relatives and the Hilde Back Education Fund.

As a way of helping others, I would like to share some tips and tactics I used to boost my performance in the exams:

Nurture a positive attitude: I perceived KCSE as a challenge.

I knew that sometimes I will have to deal with unpalatable challenges in life, hence decided to approach KCSE with the same attitude I would apply to other challenges in life.

During that long period of preparing for this exam, I taught myself skills that I could replicate later in life such as critical thinking, discipline, resilience, self-organisation, responsibility, problem-solving and honesty.

Lessons about life

I did not love poetry that much initially but I started loving it when I began seeking lessons  about life in that tricky genre of literature.

Make a deliberate effort to change your attitude towards KCSE and you’ll be assured of getting a good grade.

The ‘interesting principle’: Your education is an investment. Success depends on the amount of interest you have in what you do.

Do you love all or just some subjects? Simple interest exists where a learner is interested in one or a few subjects, and the interest earned in such an investment is small.

Compound interest exists where one is interested in all subjects; it’s a mathematical truth that compound interest is always greater than simple interest.

Learn to love all subjects even if you have favourites. If you want to perform your best in the exams, you must learn to love all subjects.

For my case, I did not love all subjects initially but I later developed interest in them all after realising how necessary it is.

You can take that to the bank.

Self-evaluation: “Experience is not the best teacher but evaluated experience is.”

Whenever you fail to achieve your academic targets, go back to the drawing board and ask yourself what could have gone wrong.

Correct the mistakes and move on a wiser person, cognisant of the fact that you won’t repeat that mistake twice.

My target in KCPE was 440 but I only managed 395.

I knew that I had to apply different strategies to avoid repeating that mistake.

Whenever you are facing an exam, ensure that you actually revise those papers and analyse them critically.

Live a balanced life: Reading all the time is boring, exhausting, unproductive and counter-productive.

Have you ever wondered why someone who used to read so much never performed well?

 This is one of the major reasons.

Make school life interesting by doing what you love.

Do not leave high school with a KCSE certificate only.

Grow socially, academically, spiritually, and mentally.

What matters is not how much time you put into the reading but the quality of the reading you undertake.

A disciplined student will acknowledge the importance of exercising and playing a sport during breaks and free time.

Take part in music and drama festivals, science fairs, debates and other extracurricular activities.

If you feel comfortable participating in school leadership, go ahead and join the students’ council.

Academic captain

Always endeavour to grow socially, academically, spiritually, mentally and so on.

For my case, I was involved in athletics as the captain. I was also in the debate club and the robotics club.

I have been an assistant library captain and academic captain at different stages of my school life. Thanks for reading and allow me to break there.

More tips from me tomorrow.

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