In this story, college students from the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are revealing their secrets on how they pass an exam, bounce back after failing one, how to have confidence, and how to pretend like you know what is going on in class. 

To what extent are students pushing themselves to pass an exam with a desirable grade? Loreto Paulino, a senior at the University of Guam majoring in Chemistry says his secret to passing an exam is using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence system. 

He uses AI to create a test based on his notes. “It’s like having a personal teacher who doesn’t judge me on my bad habits,” Paulino said.

In the many wins that college students achieve, they also face failure. Paulino shares how he is able to bounce back from failing an exam. 

“The key is to remember that failing an exam is not the end of the world,” he said.

When asked about how he built his confidence during his time as a graduating senior, Paulino says to imagine yourself as a Hollywood star. 

“You are a Hollywood star and the classroom is your stage. Your classmates are the supporting actors, but you’re the leading role,” he said. 

STEM students like Nathan Paz, a junior majoring in Biology under the biomedical track emphasizes that his secret in taking in the defeat of the result of a bad exam is to allow yourself to grieve. 

“Go out for a meal or relax while processing the exam score. Don’t beat yourself over it. A failed exam is only one moment in your entire college career,” Paz said. 

“Women in STEM” is a popular phrase that highlights the impact that women have in a rigorous field of study. Hilary Tirazona, a proud woman also majoring in biomedical, says her secret to passing an exam is time-consuming, soul-crunching and tedious, but it has never let her down, yet.

It is the traditional way of taking notes, reading, making a study guide, and quizzing yourself.

“Confidence is something that is acquired. It doesn’t stem from thinking that you know everything, but rather, from knowing that you have done all that you can and have given your best effort,” Tirazona said. 

Now that all the secrets of failure and success have been revealed by some students, what do you do when you are in your fourth class of the day and have no idea what is going on?

Tirazona says that it is all about making that body language connection with your professor. “Lock eyes with your professor, smile, nod, and then type. Just type anything to make it seem like you are writing down everything they just said,” she said. 

The bottom line is that you are not alone in this college journey of success. Help is offered wherever you may go, and it does not hurt to accept failure throughout the journey. 

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Before Wei began teaching at UOG, she was a graduate student at the University of Texas as Austin. At UT, she conducted research and taught other grad students while completing her dissertation.

“My life was pretty much running between classrooms and doing research for my labs,” Wei said.

Before choosing biology as her graduate studies, she was previously a chemistry major. She studied medicinal plants and analyzed their chemical components.

To analyze their chemical components, Wei was required to do field work to collect medicinal plants. This exposed her to more biology concepts.

“That’s where I was hooked,” Wei said.

She remembers the specific date, Aug.18, 2014, the day she began teaching at UOG. Before Wei arrived at UOG, there was no one teaching plant biology.

She is currently teaching two sections of environmental biology and has previously taught botanical courses, like plant taxonomy and plant diversity.

“Biology is exciting,” Wei said. She explains that it can tell stories. These stories can unravel history, a person’s current life, and how one should live responsibly in the future.

One of Wei’s goals as an instructor is to have her students gain the basic training in biology, like the basic foundations in biology.

Wei points out that a student does not have to be an expert, but a student should at least know how to improve themselves.

She explains that a class that is not interesting will result in students ignoring the subject.

“You have to have the passion for it. In my class, it’s very important for me to show my passion and interest in my teaching subject first,” Wei said.

Next semester, Wei is excited to be teaching scientific writing for the first time.

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