Kickoff boasts fun and games prior to study sessions
By Angela Espinoza, News Editor
The winter semester Exam Jam will be hosting its first kickoff event April 10 at the New Westminster campus. The dual idea behind the kickoff event is to provide students with a fun and relaxing experience while also promoting the Learning Centre’s Exam Jam period.
“We did Exam Jam last semester, but it’s a lot bigger this semester,” says Learning Centre services coordinator Reija Roberts, who co-organized the kickoff with Learning Centre services coordinator Samantha Berbeck. “We’re doing a kickoff event, which is what we didn’t do last semester.”
Roberts and Berbeck went on to explain the number of activities that will be available, including a playable PlayStation 3, an enormous Jenga set, and a 2:30-3:30 p.m. session of yoga hypnosis in room 2221.
“[The] first half is yoga, and then the second half is a hypnosis for relaxation for exams,” says Berbeck. “The instructor is a yoga teacher who is also trained in hypnosis, so she will… hypnotize people lightly, and then they’ll do a rehearsal for exam success.”
In addition to the activities, there will also be many prizes to be won. “We’re going to have the prize wheel,” says Roberts, which offers students chances to win items such as gift certificates and coupons. “We have prizes from [Hub Restaurant], Spud Shack, Freshslice, Chartwells, in addition to… a bunch of Douglas[-provided] prizes,” says Berbeck.
Following the kickoff, the Exam Jam will run from April 14 to 17, and 22 to 25. “We’ll have our peer tutoring, study skills… study groups are pretty popular too,” says Roberts. “We do [Exam Jam] at both campuses’ Learning [Centres], but we have different dates, [with] more dates at New [Westminster] campus.
Due to the high demand of peer tutors and study sessions, the Learning Centre’s two-week Exam Jam period offers additional study and prep services for a number of specific courses, including but not limited to: PSYC 2300 (Data and Analysis in Psychology), ACCT 1110 (Principles of Accounting I), and CHEM 1110 (The Structure of Matter).
“The study groups are… peer tutor led,” says Roberts, “If [the study group is] for Psych 2300, for example, [the peer tutor] leading the group will be a student who has successfully completed that course.”
Berbeck also said that for this set of Exam Jam study sessions, students could book spots up to two weeks in advance, instead of the usual one week the Learning Centre allows. “We’re going to make it so once exams start, students can book for the whole exam period,” says Berbeck. “So as of the Monday [April 14]… people can [better] plan their studying for exams.”
In addition, students can also now book up to four sessions per week, allowing for more study opportunity. This gives students a chance to work with peer tutors for all eight Exam Jam dates if necessary. Roberts and Berbeck also stress that tutors provide skills for overcoming study difficulties such as procrastination and how to prepare for multiple choice and essay-based exams.
The Exam Jam period will also see the return of the DSU puppy room on April 14 and 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., along with the International department’s cultural café on April 15 and 22 from 1 to 2 p.m.
New Westminster Exam Jam dates run from April 14 to 17, and 22 to 25 in room 2105, while David Lam dates run from April 14 to 17 in room A1040.
