University lessons people learned the hard way

i memorised for exams and forgot everything a week later

I was pretty good at exams. Like, genuinely good. I figured out early on that you didn't need to understand the material, you needed to know what the question was probably going to be and have a rehearsed version of the answer sitting ready. It worked. My parents would put the results letters on the fridge. I remember the specific smell of that kitchen, magnets and something faintly gassy from the cooker, feeling pleased and also kind of blank at the same time. I thought that was just what achievement felt like.