#warmbum

America: What is your favourite place to eat?

this lil pizza joint in brooklyn (family pizza on flatbush) and a burger place in my town with the best chili cheese burgers

Cyprus: What hands-on activities do you like (drawing, carving, building, etc.)?

already answered!

Ghana: What is your favourite sport?

skiing :)

Hi!. First kudos to you for studying hard and prepping well. That’s always the biggest and hardest step. (Also I totally understand your struggle with the birthdays - I had to take my SAT IIs on my birthday one year). 

I know it sucks having it on your birthday, but make sure you postpone the celebrations and everything until after the test so you’re not distracted. It will be just as special later that day or next week, I promise. And let someone else handle planning your birthday party or anything else for that day so you have one less thing to worry about. 

I am by no means an expert but here’s some of the things I did a couple days before the test: 

A week before: 

Practice tests practice tests practice tests. I can’t stress this enough. The only way you’re going to know what the test is like is to try to replicate the test environment as closely as possible. I did around 35 practice tests before I took the actual essays. 

Review. The week before is crunch time but you shouldn’t really be learning any new information. It should mostly be review. 

The night before: 

Do not study. Cramming that information is not going to make you remember it and it’s just going to stress you out. 

Pack your bag. Make sure you have everything you need for tomorrow so you don’t have to worry about it the morning of the test. Pencils, entrance ticket, ID, water, snacks, and calculator. Make sure the batteries in your calculator work and bring backups, or even a backup calculator altogether. 

De-stress. What I did was watch some TV and clean my room. Then, right before bed, I did an hour long session of yoga complete with candles and everything and it really helped me relax. You can also treat yourself to a nice spa day with face masks and a bubble bath with candles to make you more relaxed and make the experience more special. 

Get a good night’s sleep. If you can’t sleep, here’s a trick my gym teacher taught me: lie on your back with your hands to your sides and legs out (don’t cross them because this limits bloodflow) and completely relax. Take a deep breath, hold, then exhale. Repeat this around 5 times. Then start contracting just your toes while inhaling, hold the contraction and your breath, then release and exhale slowly. Repeat again just contracting your toes. Then do just your calves, then thighs, then abs, then hands, then lower arms, then upper arms, holding each contracting and releasing on the exhale. After you’re done, keep lying there and start to count slowly backwards from 100. Repeat until you fall asleep. Usually I fall asleep by the time I get to 50. 

The day of: 

This is it. The big day. Really savor it because you’ve worked hard and you’ve got this. 

Wake up early. This way you’re not rushing around and you can retain that relaxed state we worked hard to get last night. 

Eat a good breakfast. I made my favorite the day of my test: oatmeal with granola and some tea. Eat something high in fiber and starch to give you lots of energy for the test. 

Wear your comfiest outfit. I had my huge sweater and leggings all ready to go so I could focus 100% of my energy on the test. It also made me feel more relaxed and made the test a little more enjoyable. 

Get there early. Especially if the school you’re taking it at isn’t the school you go to. You never know if there will be traffic, if the school has a weird entrance, or where the classroom you’re supposed to report to is.