Well, about an hour into the lesson, I got to the library and checked out the HESI website. It turns out that the bookstores aren’t allowed to give away the test book before you take the exam, and they have a specific time allotted for people to return the book for a full exam credit. So my wife was right, I really should take the book. I was a bit nervous about taking the test, but it turned out that I had a lot of time to prepare for it, so I wanted to make sure I picked the best test guide to get prepared for.
A quick search online turned up a few HESI bookstores, and Barnes and Noble were one of them. I went to the book section and quickly found the test book there. I knew right then that I had enough time to take the book home and review it before the test day. So I loaded up my laptop, plugged in my ear buds, and logged onto my computer.
I quickly went through the first couple chapters and then turned it off. I hadn’t planned to spend so much time on getting familiar with the exam, but I needed to get the basics down so I wouldn’t waste time trying to figure them out during the actual exam. Besides, if I review the book before the exam it will be much easier to remember the information.
After I had read the first chapter I went back to my computer, turned it on, logged into my MySpace, and began to type some comments into Google. What I found really surprised me was that I actually had quite a few different web pages open at the same time. Like, I opened one web page about each different HESI question that I would see on the exam, and then I opened another web page about each of the questions covered in the book.
Now I know you might think that I wasted everyone’s time by going over the book again for each question. Not so. Each time I opened a new web page I would review the question and then go over the entire book again to find the answer. This way I got more out of the book since I was reviewing it again. The review period was actually just two days long and during this time I reviewed and reread the whole book three times.
I was very fortunate because I have a hard time remembering the names of all of the questions on the exam. I had to develop a system for remembering them. I took some notes when I opened the book, but once I wrote down the names of the questions I couldn’t remember I developed a pretty good memory for the questions. That helped me to review and to take less time on the section that I was supposed to take fast.
The other thing that I like about this book is that it has many practice questions. I usually end up putting the wrong answers on my paper and not having time to go back and try and solve them. So I just take my time with these practice questions and I solve them as I find them. By the time I turn in the book, I know exactly which questions I will have to answer correctly.
