3. Examinations

A station stop not a destination | Just before taking exams | Your mental radar | Making use of your radar | The conditioned reflex | Memory training | Serendipity | Essay exams | Objective exams | Federal civil service examinations | Getting information about other exams | Interviews and oral examinations | After the examination

A Station Stop, Not a Destination

Anyone who has skipped over the first pans to reach this section will get nowhere. Studying and taking exams are too closely related. Starting here would be like the man learning to walk the tightrope who read the directions and placed his left foot on the rope;, and then the right, and then fell flat on his face. He skipped over the part about first keeping his bal­ance. There are no short-cuts to prosperity in the business of self-education.

Up to now we have been creating a "rationale" for taking one's studies in stride. A rationale shows the reasoning behind certain prescribed pat­terns of conduct. A rationale is better than mere do's and don'ts because you can modify the recommended procedures intelligently to fit personal, variable situations or your own individuality when a rigid procedure does not work too well for you.

If you are just interested in the exam section of this book, you will find it helps you very little by itself. If you sincerely want to educate your­self, it is best that you get the total picture by returning to page 7.

An exam is one of the many incidents along the long road to an educa­tion, and NOT the destination. In a very general way, an exam is similar to being born: Long preparation and growth had to come first, and a lot more of real life still lies ahead!