After finishing my exams in the middle of May, with five in the span of two weeks and three in three days I may add, I’ve had some time to reflect on my first in-person exams in nearly three years.

The thing with many of the graduate programs at LSE, which was completely foreign to me coming from North America, is exams for both the fall and winter terms are at the end of the year in May and June. For my three first semester courses, this meant not writing my exams until six months after finishing classes with one of them being 100% of the final grade; it was different.

Throughout the entirety of the year when doing coursework, the concept of exams felt like a fairy tale, something that was always so far away and never seemed like it was going to happen – it was always “oh, look how much time we have until exams, we’ll be fine,” and then the time came to write them.

As someone who’s been a late minute study crammer for the entirety of his academic life and typically struggles to do things that aren’t urgent and imminent, this was a major issue.

If there’s one thing I would highly recommend, which is something I’m genuinely proud of myself for, it’s taking initiative early and being proactive – two things I’ve always struggled with. Start early and stay ahead. With the prospect of exams well over seven or eight months away when school starts in September, it’s so, so easy to rest on your laurels and slack off; it may only seem slight but even missing one week of readings is enough to cascade into disaster. If this was still my undergrad, that’s exactly what would’ve happened to me and come exam time, my life would’ve been a living hell.

This time around, somehow, it was the most relaxed I’ve ever been during exams in my life. Why? I actually planned ahead. Crazy, isn’t it? Seriously though, I don’t know if this is a cliché saying or not but doing a little now really does save a lot later. Those two or three hours (sometimes more) per day meticulously doing readings in the first term saved my life, metaphorically, when it was time for exams. All I had to do was revise my notes, and I started that early, too.

Sure, sometimes I quickly re-read some articles for clarification, but I’d already done all the heavy thinking. Then, by applying the same prior to my studying, I was calm as could be when it came to the day of each exam – completely contrary to how I used to be where I’d be cramming until the minute before I entered the exam room. It spread throughout the rest of my life as well – I had more time to sleep, to exercise, to relax and to hang out with friends – I had balance and my mental health was all the better because of it.

If you are or you’re thinking about going to LSE next year and the academic pressure seems daunting, just know it’s all up to you. Not to sound like a philosopher or like I have life figured out in the slightest, but coursework and exams don’t have to be as stressful as they’re constantly portrayed – if you stay ahead of things and hold yourself accountable, you’ll be fine. It’s easier said than done, but in the long-term, it was more than worth it.

At least that’s how I feel before I get my marks back, so take this with a pinch of salt.