In the lead up to the dreaded exam period, when revision was as common as breathing, he would constantly repeat his favoured mantra to the whole class: “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

It is a lesson which I will never forget and it is one that appears apt for the inaugural European Games in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, which is currently staging test events in wrestling and boxing as the build-up to the historic spectacle intensifies.

Preparation for any multi-sport event is crucial but for Baku, given the short 30-month timescale they had to get ready, it is quintessentially important to the success of the Games.

The Great Silk Way Elite Boxing Tournament and the Azerbaijani Wrestling Federation Cup may not be household names  in the world, yet they offered Baku 2015 with an opportunity to trial run the methods they plan to implement come Games time.

They followed on from previous test events - the most recent being the "Baku Prepares" Open Joint Azerbaijan Gymnastic Championship held in March - and utilised fully-operational venues, providing the Azerbaijani public with the chance to be involved with almost exact replicas of European Games competitions.

And boy did they relish it.

Despite the fact that the wrestling event featured only cadets and juniors, around 1,500 spectators made their way along to the recently-renovated Heydar Aliyev Arena each evening, which represents a superb turnout considering the level of competition being showcased in the impressive venue.

Every Azerbaijani gold medal success - and due to the size of their team there were many - was greeted with a rapturous response from the crowd, and if they can retain that enthusiasm for the main event, home advantage will surely prove telling.

A principle reason for this is Azerbaijan have a rich history in the sport of wrestling, particularly at Olympic level where they have secured an impressive four golds since the country made its debut in the Games at Atlanta in 1996, and the venue is sure to be a popular hub among the local public.

Drenched in a sea of Baku purple, which even envelopes the city’s London-style taxi cabs, the venue played the role of hosting the test event with vigour and the volunteers, even those who stepped in at the last minute, seemed to revel in their participation.

It wasn’t just the spectators and volunteers who looked to be enjoying the experience and Namig Abdullayev, a wrestling icon in Azerbaijan following his Sydney 2000 Olympic freestyle gold medal triumph, told insidethegames how much he was savouring the test event.

“It’s impossible not to enjoy this test event,” he said.

“A good crowd has come out to see the wrestlers fight for medals and this is an amazing venue.”

Praise indeed from someone who has been there and done it on the grandest stage of them all.

But being a test event, the very nature of it means mistakes could be made - after all how will they learn if it passes by flawlessly?

There were of course glitches, the media transport in particular, and the opening day of the wrestling threw the organisers off course somewhat as the morning session went by in a flash, finishing two hours early due to a plethora of mismatches in the first round.

The view from the press tribunes also needs to be improved for the actual event as someone as vertically-challenged as myself could barely see over the raised barrier which lined the row of desks.

Also, the “I-Zone” concept - Baku 2015’s response to the outdated media mixed zone where athletes can be interviewed after they have competed - was largely well-received but questions remain over its viability when an Azerbaijani athlete wins gold as the area has limited space.

Yet, they would appear to be mere fleeting worries than substantial concerns – worries that can surely be ironed out before the June 12 deadline.

Competition was played out at a constantly rapid pace, with gold medal and bronze medal bouts going on simultaneously to start with, ensuring everyone in attendance could focus on their chosen athlete.

But in truth, for the organisers, the actual event was a welcome irrelevance.

Its main purpose was to see how their operational systems work - how they get athletes to the interview zone after the bouts for example - and they would have been glad to see such a healthy attendance greet what was essentially a Baku 2015 training exercise.

The boxing tournament, meanwhile, held at the Crystal Hall, a venue famous for housing Europe’s wild and wacky Eurovision Song Contest participants in 2012, has also provided Baku 2015 with plenty of food for thought.

The event itself has whisked by with barely a murmur of discontent, with the Azerbaijani public once again throwing their support behind their nation’s competitors.

Flags have been waved, music has been blasted throughout the arena and a general feel of excitement has ensured an enjoyable experience for all who have managed to indulge in the Great Silk Way Elite Boxing Tournament.

While the Crystal Hall is a slightly smaller arena, it has still made for a raucous atmosphere with 83 boxers from 13 countries in attendance providing a hugely-entertaining spectacle.

During the actual Games, the venue will play host to five sports and along with the Heydar Aliyev Arena, it is set to be one of the event’s focal points.

Like wrestling, boxing is a sport where Azerbaijani athletes are expected to top the podium and while the decent crowd was far from a surprise, it still provided those behind the scenes with cause for optimism ahead of the two-week extravaganza in June.

Both events, which conclude tomorrow, were hailed by Baku 2015 director of sport Pierce O’Callaghan, who feels they have got the structure and scheduling of the test competitions spot on as they prepare to enter unknown territory in the summer.

“I couldn’t be happier with how they’ve gone, to be honest,” he said.

“We’ve kept our eye on the ball and we have dictated the terms of the test events. That’s great for a first edition as there is no manual on the shelf as to what we can and can’t do.

“In terms of the wrestling, it was is a midweek junior event and people are taking time off work and university to come to this newly developed arena.

“To have proper competitions and a good amount of spectators and the stadiums buzzing with excitement and atmosphere means it has been a huge success.”

O’Callaghan, who forms part of a strong expat influence behind the scenes at Baku 2015, also alluded to how test events can often prove to be negative for Organising Committee’s in the build-up to multi-sport competitions.

In order to keep costs down, they have opted for only six test events for the Games - something which the Irishman sees only as a positive aspect.

“We didn’t want to throw events into the calendar because the European sports calendar is full as it is,” he added.

 “Looking at Rio’s Olympic Games they are running 44 test events and they believe it is crippling them.

 “Every previous Organising Committee for major sports events say test events have crippled them and we don’t have time to be crippled.

“Our testing programme is robust and our sport tests in May are going to be crucial.”

The sport tests he mentioned will see Baku 2015 undertake trial-runs of each sport without a competition or a crowd and they are expected to give them much needed feedback as preparations enter the final stretch.

It will allow them to test more venues, more logistics and more operations as every arena is unique and therefore requires a slightly different set of methods.

And once again it comes down to the buzzword of preparation.

Only time will tell whether they succeed or fail in their mission of delivering a successful and enjoyable first-ever European Games, but few can argue that the hard yards haven’t been put in at the planning stage.

Failing to prepare is certainly not on the Baku 2015 agenda and the famous slogan, told to me by my history teacher all those years ago, seems to still ring true today.