What to wear during exam period

I won’t lie to you – this is going to be a taxing article. It’s the end of a long term, it’s bloody miserable weather and exams are in full swing….and not having had any exams of my own, I’ve been at home for over a week, eating as much food as possible because it’s free and doing things like painting each nail a different colour, because I have that much time to kill. But as you stumble across this in your procrastination, don’t be too hasty in wanting to strangle me with a novelty Christmas jumper, as a good portion of my time has been spent thinking of those of you who are trapped in that ‘examination diet’ of junk food and triple shot lattes. My concern lies in an overlooked and serious matter – that of revision and exam attire.

I know what you’re going to say. I can practically hear your strangulated cries of frustration from here, shouting at your screens that quite frankly, nobody gives a damn what they wear during those library all nighters when the lights are so bright, everyone looks like they’re wearing green and you swear the vending machine spoke to you. And you care even less what you’re wearing the next day, when you’re lining up to go into the exam room and everyone around you is clutching their cue cards, muttering dates under their breath and wiping their clammy hands on their trousers, before going to the loo for the 6th time. Who in their right mind would care about what they’re wearing at such moments in time? Well, I would and I’ll tell you for why.

Last year, I was going through the aforementioned pre exam ritual outside Younger Hall, with perhaps more vigour than I had done in previous years. I had overslept and therefore hadn’t had time to wash my hair, my nails were chipped and jagged, which meant I picked and bit them incessantly and the bizarre assortment of clothes that I had pulled on in my rush to get out the door, were itchy, baggy, tight, hot and cold all at the same time. So imagine my horror when I was ushered past my preferred seat at the back of the room and up on to the stage, where I had to sit and face 200 other students, for 3 whole hours. And that was it – I was completely thrown, because the niggling feeling that I looked crap was compounded by the fact that, in my head, 400 hundred eyes were upon me, telling me I definitely did. So instead of sticking to my strict timing plan and making full use of my multi coloured biro, I fidgeted, fussed and flustered my way through the entire process.

This might seem incredibly vain and it could be argued that looking good is not something that students should be concerned with when taking exams. But it’s not about vanity – it’s about confidence and comfort and what makes each person feel able to go out and do their very best. For example, I have a friend who was once told by someone that she could be a hand model (it was on Raisin, but I won’t let that detract from their obvious sincerity). That was one of the proudest moments of her life, and since then she takes extra care of her mitts, in case Fairy Liquid need a new ‘hands that do dishes’ model. But if she goes into an exam, or any situation where she needs to perform to the best of her ability, and her hands look like Gollum’s, sad as it might seem, she finds herself distracted by them every now and then….apparently.

In a roundabout way, what I’m advocating, is dressing as smart as you are. You wear smart clothes for an interview, partly to impress your potential employer, but also to give yourself the confidence to do well, so why not apply this to exams? In our last year at school, although we could wear our own clothes throughout the year, every one of us got back into our uniform for exams – it was familiar, comfy and easy and made the whole process seem more official and important. I’m not suggesting everyone starts wearing their old school uniforms for exams, especially as mine was a floor length kilt, but perhaps that jumper that hasn’t been washed for 2 months and has a cornflake encrusted on the sleeve isn’t the best choice for nailing that 2:1. The first two years at St Andrews seem to de-sensitise us to exams and the notion of academic pressure and we forget the stomach churning, crippling dread felt during A Levels. I don’t like fear mongering but exams are important and what harm can be done by dressing with a little extra care? And if nothing else, you’ll have a versatile outfit ready for when you leave the exam and skip straight into the nearest pub.