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Zoila Brown

HED-44-53149

Professor Moore

11 August 2019

Project 3: Case Study Analysis

In accordance to the case study Katya is a student fresh out of high school, most likely

living on her own without parental supervision for the first time. The shock of the “real world”

being sprung onto someone very suddenly can create issues in that person’s life, especially when

balancing academic and social life. Katya struggles with test anxiety and not believing in herself

or her abilities to do well. The pressure of losing a scholarship if she does not do well on her next

exam will not help her with the anxiety she continues to experience. Katya needs different advice

and coping mechanisms to help her use her anxiety for good and start believing in herself.

As someone who struggles with self-efficacy and test anxiety, I understand Katya and

that it is very difficult to come out of situations like hers with a positive mind frame. Entering

college as a freshman coming straight out of high school, I felt scared of what was to come. This

was especially true for my academic career because I have always been a student who tries to go

above and beyond just to make sure I have completed all my assigned tasks. I was afraid that

college was going to be overwhelmingly difficult and that I would never be able to catch up and

be ahead of the game. After a few weeks in I realized it was easier than I had originally

anticipated and I let that get the best of me and started slacking. This created more and more

anxiety for me once I placed myself in harder classes because I still felt as if I was keeping

myself behind and would never succeed. My test anxiety made me feel trapped and that I would
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fail. It was not until I sat down with my chemistry professor my sophomore year that I realized

the “bad grades” and the feeling of failure were not occurring because I was a bad student or that

I did not study enough. This was due to my self-doubt and negative criticism towards myself that

had bruised my ability to understand that no matter what, I was going to be alright.

In order to help Katya, build her sense of self-efficacy both in and out of the classroom, I

would have to have her complement herself on all the things she feels she has and continues to

succeed in. I would want to show Katya that she is a great student because she puts hard work

into pushing herself, but she is a great person as well because she uses her own doubt to push her

even more to help others. Helping Katya see who she is as a person and being able to love herself

will allow her to not stress so much about the little things. In the article, “Test Anxiety in High

and Low Achievers” authors Ruhi Khalid and Syeda Hasan explained that, “It has been observed

that both high and low achievers experience test anxiety. High achievers experience test anxiety

because they usually want to be the best and strive to maintain their image as good students” (p.

98). Katya is a high achiever and wants to keep her status of being a good student so she puts

more pressure on herself to be successful and creates her anxiety issues when taking tests.

Specifically, with the situation Katya is in she is putting extra pressure on herself because of the

stakes presented and this has shot her anxiety up. It was also indicated that, “Studies have

consistently shown that high test-anxious students experience decrements in performance” (p.

100). Katya’s anxiety being so high could cause major distractions for her when trying to execute

the “perfect” score on her exam(s) causing unhealthy levels of anxiety manifesting and taking

over her body. Such high levels of anxiety can result in her doing poorly on the exam creating

more stress and anxiety for her after because she would then lose her scholarship.
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Katya needs to be able to confront her fears and take back control of her life when it

comes to anxiety taking over her body. She needs to feel confident in what she is capable of and

how much she can push herself. According to the article, “Analysis of the Relationship between

the Academic Self-Efficacy and Leisure Satisfaction Levels of University Students” the author

Faith Yaşartürk used research to state, “Self-efficacy includes the feelings of an individual

towards their own ability, power and skills (Budak, 2003). Academic self-efficacy is defined as

the belief of the individual in themselves in completing academic tasks successfully (Schunk,

2009)” (p. 107). Katya has to find balance between self-efficacy in her personal life and her

academic life. Having faith that she will do her best no matter the outcome and still be a great

person overall would encourage Katya not to give up on herself. Once she has good self-efficacy,

then she will be able to not let anxiety take over her judgment of her capabilities. Actions Katya

can take to proactively decrease anxiety and learn optimism is positive self-talk. Just the act of

making a list and explaining to herself that things will be okay, good qualities, and things she has

achieved can point her in a good direction. Deep breathing exercises can help in situations where

she is feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and going to her “happy place” in order to calm her

down. To learn optimism for herself she needs to point out the positives in things she would not

consider a success and not talk negatively about her abilities.

All in all, Katya’s grades are not a reflection of the person she is and should not let her

academic success define her. Katya has test anxiety and self-efficacy issues that many of us do,

especially when placed in stressful situations. With some positive self-talk and reflection, Katya

can decrease her test anxiety and use it for good. To help Katya with future school semesters it is

important for her to start each semester with a positive attitude and goals she wants to achieve by
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the end. Katya can set routines that will help her with her anxiety that include breathing

exercises, positive self-talk and reflection, and mindfulness of her success and capabilities.
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Citations

Khalid, R., & Hasan, S. S. (2009). Test anxiety in high and low achievers. Pakistan Journal of

Psychological Research, 24(3), 97-114. Retrieved from

https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezp.pasadena.edu/docview/204280427?accountid=2837.

Yasartürk, F. (2019). Analysis of the Relationship between the Academic Self-Efficacy and

Leisure Satisfaction Levels of University Students. Journal of Education and Training

Studies, 7(3), 106–115. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-

com.ezp.pasadena.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1206489&site=ehost-

live.