SPM; be prepared or deal with regret.

Here's to all the SPM candidates of 2013..

And 2014.. And 2015.. 

SPM.

The most difficult exam ever? Yes, but not if you study hard beforehand.

The most important exam ever? Indeed. No buts. Really, you can say it's not everything and it does not determine your success in life. However, it is literally the start of your journey towards achieving your goals. No buts.

The most annoying exam ever? Kudos to you for acknowledging the truth.

You can't do it well? I have to disagree. You can.

For starters.. I feel like talking about the importance of SPM. As an SPM leaver, I feel sort of embarrassed of my trial exam result. I hope you are aware that your trial exam result can be used to enter a university. For January intake. Do you know how cool that is? When others are nervously waiting for the real SPM result to be announced, you are already experiencing the college life. Earlier than them. And you are going to finish earlier than them. Sure, most scholarships are not offered yet at the time.. At least, you are not wasting your time at home. If you beg to differ, it's alright. I begged to differ too.. Hahaha. 

Well, staying at home with no worries and no commitments in life are pure bliss. You wake up to no homework.. No books to read, no tutor tv program to watch, NO SCHOOL. Yes, the highlight of the year: Not being a school kid anymore. It feels exceptionally incredible. Slight exaggeration there, but you do feel immense calmness. You can go out any day, you can do whatever you want (as long as it is legal and considered as a good deed. Please, at the age of 18, people tend to screw up and ruin their future without their conscience. Look before you leap!) and you can earn your own money. You can work at the malls that you love going to, you can work at kindergartens.. You can even start your own online business. As for me, I spent my holidays doing everything I wanted to. I went to the bookshop, ate my favorite food and satisfied my cravings, spent time with my loved ones.. The list goes on. I never intended to work. At times I felt like a burden to my parents, but I promised them I will work hard when I'm in the university.. I negotiated well, haha.

I am so sorry for talking too much! Let's proceed to the real deal. 

Tips on SPM?

Oh, you know. The same things we do to face any exam. Same old same old.

There are a few additions, though. 

Adabi exercise books worked wonders for me! For the science subjects, though. The same pattern of questions came out in the real exam. Not exactly the same, but once you have familiarized yourself with the question pattern, you can handle some changes. Other ramalan books worked well too, and for Sejarah, try asking for tips from your Sejarah teacher. She or he usually knows what to expect in the real exam.. Even though the Lembaga Peperiksaan's actions are actually hard to predict. 

Buy revision books that have mindmaps or short lists. They are easier to memorize.. However, if you beg to differ, go ahead.

DO NOT pick a fight with anyone. Apologize profusely after you realize that you made a mistake, especially if it is to your parents or your teachers. Do not pick a fight with your friends too. Those whom you pick a fight with will probably forget you in their prayers (only the really pious and good hearted ones won't. Bad news: they are rare). 

DO NOT delay your homework. Ugh. I was so glad that I deactivated my Twitter account for two months. It was a huge distraction (still is) so if you are an active Twitter user, I suggest you do it. Activate it every 20 days to avoid getting deleted, but deactivate again afterwards. Fret not, you're not going to lose your thousands of followers.. They may forget your existence, though.. It's okay, they don't matter as much as your future does to you.

DO NOT hate any subject. You can strongly dislike it, but never hate it. The same thing everyone tells you: study all subjects and pay more attention to the subjects you are weak at. Believe them. They are right.

Tons of prayers will help a whole lot. After all, He is the one who determines how successful you will be. One thing for sure: Hard work pays off. Don't worry, God is fair, my dear ;-)

I was good at BM, English, Sejarah and Pendidikan Al-Quran & As-Sunnah.

So, for BM, master your tatabahasa, master your literature exercises, master your peribahasa and bombastic words.

For English, the usual. Memorize bombastic words, read the stories and understand them well, have a good grammar, read a lot of English novels and quotes. It will be so much fun, I promise.

For Sejarah, read and understand what you learn. Deem it a story book, imagine the events, and you will eventually memorize the whole thing.

Pendidikan Al-Quran & As-Sunnah is simply interesting! Master your tajweed, master the notes, master the exercises. And do your hafazan and stuff your ustazah tells you to, they will help you for the real exam. 

For the Science subjects, I can't really help.. I got A- for Biology and Add Maths, and B+ for Chemistry and Physics. Good enough for me since I set my expectations really low. As for you, fellow candidates, please aim for the highest grade. A+ is your goal. 

Biology requires a lot of reading and memorizing. Mind maps and short but important notes can assist you. For the essay, you are going to need a lot of knowledge, so don't waste your time on pointless things.. Especially if you wish to become a doctor, a pharmacist, you name it. Study hard, ok.

Add Maths! The miracle that made me so happy. I used to get no more than 43% for Add Maths in exams. I once got a 90%, but it was merely a monthly exam, which they tested only two topics lol. My point is, I never got more than 43%. It was frustrating. My parents were worried of me, so they called Infitah and got a private tutor for me. Kak Farhana. She was extremely nice, going to my house twice a week (sometimes more, depending on how much I needed it) and she never got mad at me for forgetting the formulae and not knowing the basic ones. I felt very dumb at the time, and all I wanted was to get at least an A- for Add Maths. I guess I said it too much, and it became a prayer. Allah gave me an A-. Alhamdulillah. So, what she did was- she revised all the topics with me, helped me with the exercises and the past year questions, and she made me understand them.
I have to thank my Add Maths teacher, Puan Rodziah for doing the mentor-mentee thingy at school, where we studied in a group, guided by a mentor, who was also a classmate and got an A for Add Maths. My mentor was Amar, may God bless him because he was really patient with my group-mates and I, and he helped me a lot! Even when the real exam was around the corner. You should do the same thing if your teacher doesn't. Studying in a group has never been dull or boring.
Oh, I did a lot of exercises too. I even finished two sets of questions the night before the exam. Such a last minute preparation.. But it helped to increase my confidence. If you can handle last-minute studying well, why not? :-P

Chemistry and Physics.. Hmm. Master the notes, the formulae (ES MUY IMPORTANTE, alright?!), memorize them by reading again and again, understand them and be able to answer the questions without referring to your books. Familiarize yourself with the famous topics. Get help asap if you need it. DO NOT always procrastinate, okay.

For Bahasa Arab that I got only a B+, hahahaha memorize the vocabulary! I can regret for being lazy at doing that, but it's too late already.. Please, to master any language, you need to have a lot of vocabulary on your mind. And buy the Nota Ajaib thingy, it is SO beneficial. Even college students refer to it.

For Syariah that I got only a B+ (Saddening, I know), you are going to understand and memorize the notes. Syariah is so fun. Not the right word to describe the whole subject, but it always kept me awake  during the class. It was so fascinating! However, not so much for the exam paper. If you think you can do good at it without studying your ass off.. Wrong! The answer scheme is hard to please, ugh. It can get from very strict to extremely strict. So, you are going to have to master the answering format as well.

I guess I have covered it all..?

I am sorry if I wasted your time. I am pleased to know if it benefits you in any way. Alhamdulillah for everything and may Allah ease your affairs.

Here, may this get you excited to study.