At 25, I decided to start a Computer Science degree. At that point, I had already been working as a software developer since I was 18. Although I was worried about the shock of starting this path, I was convinced that one exam, in particular, would never give me trouble.

I was wrong…

My first real wake-up call at university wasn’t with the first exam, but with the second.

Programming I.

I got an 18, the minimum passing grade.

It was a hit to my ego. After years of working as a developer, I couldn’t wrap my head around how this was possible. Above all, I couldn’t understand how kids fresh out of high school could excel at an exam like this, unlike me.

In the Italian university system, you have the option to reject a grade and retake the exam. I had 10 days to decide whether to accept it or not, and I had no idea what to do. I kept asking myself questions, and as I’ve always done when I don’t know something, I decided to search the internet for experiences from other people like me.

I devoured entire Reddit threads dedicated to the topic by people who, despite studying hard, couldn’t get the grade they deserved. I kept asking myself exactly what I had done wrong because I just couldn’t explain it.

Then I stumbled upon Penrose, a YouTuber who talked about his university experience. In one of his videos, he explained how he managed to prepare and get high grades in STEM subjects by basing his study on past exam simulations. He also talked about managing anxiety and the need to get used to it gradually through timed simulations at home in the weeks leading up to the exam.

The exact same method and guidelines were what I found in dozens of other Reddit posts.

That was exactly my problem.

Even though I knew how to code and the exercises weren’t particularly easy, I hadn’t prepared enough. Most importantly, I hadn’t prepared by following the exam format.

In an exam, the amount of time you have is limited, you’re put under a higher amount of stress, you don’t have all the tools a developer would normally use, and on top of that I hadn’t prepared using exam simulations from previous years.

Failure was guaranteed.

In the end, to avoid wasting time and causing a domino effect with my subsequent exams, I decided to accept the grade anyway.

Needless to say, I understood my mistakes. My upcoming exams went much better because I decided to include exam simulations and timed preparation right from the first weeks of study, which led to a massive improvement in my performance.

But this taught me an important lesson.

Acing tests and learning are two different skills.