Radio Script Exam Stress Group 3 Kakoli Chakraborty Cue Intro music Hello and welcome to our weekly

y programme, Life As We Know It. As you know that in this programme, we deal with everyday problems and try to find a solution for them. Every week we ask you to choose what problem we should take up and the problem with the majority of votes gets discussed. Last week you chose, Inflation and this week the chosen problem is Exam Stress. As the examinations are just round the corner, this issue is one of the most important ones. One often hears reports of students giving up and ending their lives as they couldnt cope with the stress. Today we will try and get to the bottom of this and find the underlying causes. The term exam stress can be broadly defined as the feeling of anxiety over ones performance in exams, the results and the reaction of parents and friends; all of these weigh upon the students and create stress. In this day and age of competition, it is difficult to not be stressed. Since examinations are the markers for ones failure or success, they become the number one cause of stress. A number of studies suggest a close relationship between stress levels and success; all these studies basically arrive at the same conclusion: Stress helps to improve our efficiency, but only upto a certain point. Once this point is reached, if stress continues to increase, the quality of our performance begins to decline. Heres a simple example : Imagine that someone is crossing the road when he hears a truck driver blowing the horn some distance away. He looks, speeds up and quickly gets to the other side. The stress he experienced when he heard the horn had the effect of making him change his behavior; he sped up. Now lets imagine that the truck is very near when the driver blows the horn, say ten metres away. When he hears the horn, the man crossing the street may freeze in his tracks. His stress level is so high that he cant move. We might say that his stress is so high that it keeps him from using all his resources and intelligence to cope with the situation, which may now appear to him to be impossible to resolve. You may not see the connection between getting run over by a truck and failing an exam, so lets take a look at how stress works in the exam room. The night before the exam, you are ready for it. You understand all the material and can even explain it to someone else. You go to bed a little stressed. Lets call this Level 1. The next morning, you wake up and realize that the exam is in just two hours; now your stress is rising (Level 2), but you still have a good grasp of the material. You are still in good shape for the exam. When you get to the college, you notice a couple of students talking about the subject, which stresses you a little more (Level 3). All of a sudden you find out that you forgot to study something and your stress increases (Level 4). You may even begin to feel a bit of panic. You look through your notes and you cant find the section theyre talking about (level 5). No wonder you didnt study it you must have lost it! You have to go into the exam anyway. You walk down the hall and see the classroom door (level 6). You go inside and see several students frantically paging through their notes; the new level of stress in the room affects you (level 7). With your stress level continuously rising, youve just crossed the critical point where your ability to respond begins to decline. The invigilator comes in and puts the exam papers on his desk (level 8); he goes back to the door, looks up and down the hall, and closes the door once more (level 9). He tells everyone to

put away their books and notes and starts passing out the exams (level 10). You are having trouble seeing clearly, and now theres the exam on your desk. You read the first question and realize it isnt easy (level 11). You begin to crack under the stress and the other questions seem to be written in a foreign language. You are having a lot of trouble remembering the material. There are big gaps in your memory, you cant concentrate, and your judgment is deserting you: you even erase the right answer and replace it with the wrong one. This is how increased stress can transform a person who is well prepared to write an exam a person who could even explain the exam material to someone who didnt understand it into a person who doesnt seem to understand a thing, who doesnt seem to have studied, and who therefore deserves to fail. See how easy it is to fail an exam after studying so hard? Its just a question of letting your stress grow and grow. Simple, isnt it? So what should we do? How do we deal with this copious amount of stress? The first and foremost thing to do is be positive. Assure yourself that you will give it your best shot and the consequent result would mirror your hard work. There are some tips that the doctors and psychologists provide the students with. One needs to follow these tips in order to ensure minimum amount of stress. Be Prepared Prepare the course beforehand and dont leave anything for the last minute. Make sure to exploit every resource available to you. Make a Plan- Chart out a study schedule and follow it. Make sure to give yourself breaks and divide the time into manageable chunks. Take a Break- Ensure that you give yourself enough breaks. Watch a movie, play a sport or even sleep in that break. This helps you in feeling fresh and provides you with more energy to focus with. Sleep Well- Just because its an exam, you dont need to stay up late. Make sure you get eight hours of sleep. This ensures that your blood sugar levels are normal and lets you feel fresh. Eat and Drink Well Proper meals ensure the proper working of your body and lets you study without being drained. Reward Yourself Create a reward system.

Parents also need to keep an eye on their children so as to keep their stress in check. Talk to them, understand their problems and in no way pressurize them. Exam stress is a beatable problem and the parents need to be patient with it. I hope I have helped in understanding exam stress and the providing a solution for it. Next week, Ill be here with another problem till then good evening and good night.