Well, it seems to me that in such a case the proverb "No pains, no gains" is full of logic. If we are to reach the top of a mountain we must climb it. If we hope to achieve success we have to do hard and painstaking work. Examples can be easily found to make a case for this proverb. A scientist may be well-known for his research work and discoveries. He is greatly rewarded for them and praised wherever he goes. Yet, how many sleepless nights did he spend doing experiments in his laboratory? No one knows.

I'm definitely sure that there is nothing impossible. There are no any obstacles on the way of a person who wants to achieve a target. The only thing is that you should work hard and perfect yourself if you want to achieve your goal.

For instance my aim is to know and speak English perfectly, but I'm aware that nothing can come natural to me. Good knowledge of a language is always the result of a hard work and sleepless nights. I think that the most difficult thing for a person who learns a foreign language is that a foreign language is very different from his own language. A person's native language has a powerful influence on him, as he has been speaking this language since before he can imagine. Besides, learning of a language requires constant practice. You shouldn't think that if you have seen or heard a word or a phrase once or even five times, you really know how to use it. Some people have the idea that if they memorize long lists of new words they will learn the language. Learning a language is much more than that. But the most important thing in learning a foreign language is patience. If you keep working steadily, day after day, constantly practicing the language and using it when you have an opportunity, you are sure to learn to speak a language well.

As for me it isn't an easy thing to learn English, though I have been studying it for eleven years. Here I must say that I was privileged to study at a school where the English language was taught since the first form as it was a specialized English school. After the 9th form I entered Gomel State Regional Lyceum where we had five English lessons a week and four additional lessons in English literature and practical grammar. Much attention was paid to grammar, writing all kinds of tests, speaking and listening. While studying at lyceum all my working days looked practically the same. They started with a cup of good coffee, radiant smile of my mother that charged me with optimism for the whole day and my life motto: "Not to avoid difficulties, but deal with them".

But really hard work always began when I returned home from lyceum. First of all I wrote a to-do-list, as this small sheet of paper usually helped me to allocate my time effectively. My prime time was from 7 p.m. till 11 p.m. that's why I tried to do the most important and difficult tasks at that time: I did various tests, learnt English grammar and new vocabulary. But at the rest of time I also had my hands full of studies because I wanted to keep up with my classmates and to know as much as I could. It goes without saying that I usually burnt the midnight oil and went to bed tired and worn-out, but I tried not to complain of hardships because I understood that learning a language required constant attention. I tried not to idle away my precious time even when I was on my way to lyceum (as it usually took me about 40 or 50 minutes). I wrote new words on little pieces of paper in English on the one side and in Russian on the other. Then in the bus I learnt those words. If I thought that I remembered a word pretty good the sheet with this word went to my right pocket and if I didn't think so it went to my left pocket again. Sometimes I could also recode on the tape sentences with new words and then listen to them on the walkman. It was comfortable and successful way of learning vocabulary. And little by little the changes in my English became visible, that gave me great satisfaction.

So I can say that I came to my entrance exams quite prepared. I was fairly confident in my knowledge, but in spite of it there was that nervousness about revising, it took me several days. In the long run the day of my first exam came. I remember it clearly, but I can't say that it was an unusual day for me as I had to pass exams from time to time at school and I was pretty accustomed to them. As regards my nervousness, I was nervous naturally. I think that when I was actually sitting for my entrance exams I managed to put that sort of thing (I mean nervousness) out of my mind and concentrate on my task. I'm sure that it was the main thing why my results were pretty high.

So now I'm a student of Belarusian State Economic University. I have already passed my first session here, for which I was preparing long and seriously. I had four end-of-term exams and all of them were not easy. I spent a lot of time revising all the materials that I had studied during my first term. I did quite well in my exams, though it goes without saying that the results of some exams might be better. People are creatures that are never satisfied with anything they have! After the exams were over I felt great relief. I had my winter holidays ahead of me which was a great bonus. So it was a compensation for suffering in some way.

And in the end I'd like to give a piece of advice how to cope with difficulties during preparation for exams, as I have some experience. First of all it's necessary to allocate your time effectively and not to idle it away. I also think that it's important to take notes while reading books, because they can help you to revise the material in the evening before the exam. You should sleep about 8 or 9 hours before the exam, but not desperately try to remember everything during one night (it's useless). And the last thing is that you should cope with your nervousness: there are various ways of doing it. For instance I usually tell myself that an exam is just a small part of my life and soon (in an hour or two) I'll be free and I'll be doing something pleasant. It always makes me calm.