100-point students shared their experience of passing the exam and the secrets of dealing with anxiety

Ekaterina Shishkova from Lyceum No. 4 of Ryazan earned the maximum score for the Unified State Examination in Literature. The graduate passed the Russian language, social studies, literature and the first, written part of the foreign language. On Saturday, June 17, she will face the last test – German oral. Literally this night, she learned about the scores in the Russian language – 81.

“Literature was the first exam, and I was terribly worried,” Ekaterina told us. – I was afraid that I would forget something, that I was completely prepared for what would be in KIMs (control and measuring materials), but I was lucky. Maybe I was really well prepared, but I didn’t come across anything that I didn’t know. The first exam calmed me and convinced me that I should not worry any more. And I came to the next exams with absolute confidence that I would pass. You can pass the exam if you make an effort and if, first of all, you know its structure.

In order not to worry during the exam, I always used one simple tactic: I switched my thoughts to something else. One or two minutes of thinking about the upcoming vacation, meeting with family and friends, when I leave the PES, gave me strength. I thought about how the exam would end, how I would see my friends and be glad that they also passed the exam, go home and have a good rest …

– What did you experience when you learned about 100 points?

– I tell everyone, please don’t ask me how I wrote! I think it’s much easier that way. When you get out of PES, you can’t fix anything. When I saw my result in literature, at first I could not believe my eyes! I updated it several times … But no, I look – everything is right, 100 points. I’ll wait for the results of other exams, and I’ll be glad if my scores are enough to enter where I want to go.

… So far, Katya has not yet decided which specialties she will apply for. “Until all the points come, I can’t choose,” she says. It is only clear that these are the humanities. And either Ryazan University (RSU named after S.A. Yesenin), or St. Petersburg University. Initially, Katya thought about becoming a translator from a foreign language, but after her triumph in literature, she considers the field of teaching – either foreign language, or literature with Russian.

How did you prepare for literature?

– I studied a lot in literature throughout my studies, because it was interesting to me. I like to read both fiction and critical articles. Literature is, first of all, an art, and even such a systematic approach to it (when preparing for the Unified State Examination) can somehow be beaten and feel more involved so that it is not boring.

Did you hire a tutor?

– For the first six months, I studied literature on my own, as I was pretty confident in myself. And then I realized that literature is a very subjective exam, and I decided to turn to online school courses. And I’m very glad I did it! If you have learned to work with the format, learned to put your efforts into it, then success will be for sure.

At the exam, I got “The Little Man in Russian Literature.” It was necessary to compare the main character of Gogol’s “The Overcoat” with the hero of another work. Then came the analysis of the poetic text and the same comparison, and the final essay – five topics to choose from. There are many different nuances. For example, repeating words to increase emotionality can be counted as a mistake. You need to be careful with this.

Katya added that she had repeatedly participated in Literature Olympiads, and this helped her a lot during the exam.

– The Olympics helps, first of all, by the fact that it has exactly the same atmosphere as at the Unified State Examination. At the Olympiads, you get used to the format of the exam. You learn to decide, to fill out forms … In this case, the exam will no longer be a surprise.

The support of Catherine’s relatives also played a positive role.

– When I came home and said, well, “maybe there will be 60-70 points”, my parents answered: “Well, well, well done!”.

– Did you manage to do something during the year, except for preparing for the exam?

– I left time for reading, for my own creativity, for the life that will be after the exam. During the year I wrote many essays and, fearing that I would get stuck in this format, I began to write my own thoughts, notes for myself … Let it be “on the table”, but I knew that I could write something that did not consist of an introduction , two arguments and a conclusion…

Graduate Ilya Bessonov from Krasnoturinsk, Sverdlovsk region, was the only one from his 15th school who passed the exam in chemistry. And gave it to the max. According to Ilya, his parents did not put pressure on him at all. The wise mother immediately told her son: “If you pass, you won’t pass, there are all sorts of situations in life, and there are normal colleges where you can get an education …”.

Leisure Ilya likes to spend with friends, they have a company – they walk, watch movies. And Ilya, as he himself says, has a “craving for needlework”, he strives to do something with his own hands, for example, gifts for friends and relatives.

– When I saw the result, I exhaled. I did not doubt my knowledge, but there were doubts in the design, suddenly I wrote something wrong. Or suddenly they didn’t understand something, something was blurred. I crossed out one sheet and was afraid that they would not find my answer, that they would not see some line. But everything worked out.

– Do you have a lot of unrest during this period?

– Unified State Examination, as they say, is one of life’s tests, of which there are many more to come. That is why I treat them with complete calmness. Going to the exam, I did not feel nervous or anxious.

Why did you choose chemistry? What do you want to become?

– It all started in the 8th grade, namely, with the first chemistry teacher. She instilled in me a love for her. I want to become a chemist and go deeper into science. As for the exam itself, it went smoothly, as expected. The questions were basic, generally easy. One of the most difficult for me was, for example, the 32nd task from the second part, where there is an organic chain, and it is necessary to complete the transformation scheme.

How did you prepare for chemistry? By yourself or did someone help you?

– Twice a week we gathered for consultations with the teacher at school, otherwise it was all on our own. I watched some open classes on the Internet, studied additional manuals, but they did not take tutors.

– How did you study all the years? Do you think that the USE is an objective assessment of knowledge?

– I studied at school without triples. For me, the exam is not quite an indicator of the level of knowledge. But if we talk about excellent students, then if a person really knows, then he will write the exam well in any case, luck or luck has nothing to do with it.

Well, Ilya advises the 11th graders of next year “not to worry, not to overload yourself with knowledge once again.” “If you feel tired, it’s better to rest the day before the exam, somehow unwind, listen to music, that is, on this day it’s better not to study or repeat anything,” he says.