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Wednesday 20 June 2012

A Day in the Life of a Revision Hermit

I don’t usually consider myself as somewhat of a hermit.  Like any other teenager, I go out with my friends, have a laugh and enjoy being in the company of others.  But in the blink of an eye, that disappeared and I was inside the house, fresh air and daylight being a distant memory.  A force that I was powerless to overwhelmed me, controlling my every move like I was a robot, a machine designed for one sole purpose. I knew they would come around, of course they would- there’s no escaping the sudden regimentation they gave my life.  This regimentation fired up from the realisation.... that my exams were in one week and consequently, I became a revision hermit.

Whilst I am aware that a ‘revision hermit’ cannot be defined by the Oxford dictionary- or any dictionary for that matter- I think that it should be under the subheading ‘revision’ as a noun that can be defined as ‘A person who structures there life entirely by revision so that they do almost nothing else, leading up to a form of examination.’ I think this because at some point, people experience the feeling of being a revision hermit, the feeling that exams are dominating their lives and should in all seriousness, have a way of voicing their feelings.  Some may be revision hermits through ‘cramming’ two days before their all important exam, whereas for me, it was the complete opposite.

On a day where I told myself I would do revision... I would do revision.  Like being at a military boot camp, I would be very strict with myself, remembering that revision was my priority and had to somehow get into the mindset that ‘EastEnders’ could wait. Of course I gave myself breaks where I would sit and eat the entire contents of my kitchen, but thoughts about revision would linger like a bad smell.  After a mini feast usually consisting of an assortment of delicious biscuits, the sergeants’ whistle would blow in my mind and it would be back to the cave I would go.  Apart from times where I would emerge from the darkness, going out with my friends or family, up until my exams I took part in a mixture of cramming and doing productive revision that left me in an almost zombie like state.

I could rant about the government not giving us an official study leave; I could also rant about how our exams are all grouped together so that we have to revise for what feels like a million exams in one week.  However, I believe that we live in a society fuelled by examination and pressure, pressure that is unnecessary and can leave us feeling like we need to be constantly achieving.  Being young is the time to have fun; we have limited responsibility, aren’t tied down by a job or a marital commitment and should be enjoying our lives whilst learning about it as we go along.  Examination is necessary and is right, but sometimes I feel as though we are tested too much and that we are made to think that our whole future depends on exam results, when they are only a small part of what will shape us as a person.  Employers want to know what we are like as people; they want to see what we have to bring to their line of work besides a string of letters known as our qualifications.

I am not proud that I became a revision hermit, oh no.  Now that my exams are over and I am literally free, I have had the time to reflect on what I was like so that I can in some way, help others that become engrossed by revision to the extent that they become a ‘revision hermit.’ For this reason, I have created below, the Mullaney Mini Guide to Revision Hermits.

You know you are revision hermit if:

1.      Your thoughts are consumed with mostly revision and the work you should be doing.

2.      You don’t want to go out as much in the fear that you are wasting revision time.

3.      You read this article and think; I am just like how Sarah was.

You can stop being a revision hermit by:

1.      Doing work in half an hour slots and giving yourself good, fun breaks with some lovely FOOD!

2.      Giving yourself something to look forward to.... even if it is catching up on the latest EastEnders.

3.      Remembering that exams aren’t everything and you should be out there living and enjoying life.

As I sit here typing away on a day where I would normally be at school if I hadn’t have left, it gives me comfort to know that time is now on my side as I have months until I am to start preparing for AS exams, meaning that for now my inner revision hermit has no opportunity to surface.  Goodbye revision hermit... hello life!


*This article is slightly exaggerated, so please remember this as I don’t want you all thinking I am a crazy mad woman, because I’m not (yet).