My pre-sent-up exams were fast coming near. Being the eleventh-hour girl, I had been procrastinating everything for the next day. And it was the same with my studies.

And in no time, my exams were just a week away and I (naturally or unnaturally) started getting a horrible pain in my stomach — examphobia.

I’d done some studies but so much was left to be done that I started to panic. I plunged myself into the sea of books and tried to study more in a week than I had done in a month’s time.

Under tremendous pressure to finish my studies, I started studying in a highly inorganised manner. I stayed up till late, woke up late. Missing breakfast almost became my daily ritual. This way of studying and revising was doing me more harm than any good.

On the day of the exam, I woke up with a thick fog for an brain and quivered in dread thinking of what lay ahead in the day.

My head felt heavy, my ears were ringing and dark circles encircled my eyes.

Our exam was due to start at noon, and two-three hours before the start I picked up my book, which was scarcely touched, to go through whatever I could. But even with my frantic revision skills, I still had not finished my last minute preparations. As I walked down towards the hallway, I became increasingly nervous and regretted for not having started my revision on time.

This incident has taught me a lesson. Never keep things for the last moment or you’ll have to suffer just as I did. — Baiaboo Rai, Class X, Budhanilkantha School