All students have their own fears and expectations when it comes to their educational

goals. Katya is in her freshman year of high school and sports a 3.0 grade point average. The end

of the semester is approaching quickly and passing her chemistry exam is the key to retaining her

scholarship. Despite being hard working and studious, she experiences serious anxiety and the

pressure from passing the test caused Katya to have a panic attack two days before the test.

I myself have had contradicting experiences with tests. I have had relatively bad anxiety

before important tests but have also had a relaxed demeanor before other tests. During my early

years of schooling I had never developed any kind of test-taking strategies or thought about ways

to reduce my anxiety. This of course affected my grades for a couple of my classes but luckily

was never a big enough factor to cause me to fail a class. The closer I was to entering high

school, the more I thought about taking my tests more seriously. The early grade tests were easy

enough to wing but that wasn’t going to be the case with high school. I resolved to myself that I

wouldn’t be able to wing my way through high school exams and decided it was time to take the

tests more seriously. Since then, I’ve found a few simple test taking tips as well as a couple

methods to calm myself before the day of the exams. One thing I always tell myself is that I have

tried my best and there is nothing more I could have done to improve my test scores. This small

psychological trick helps relieve my mind of stressful thoughts since there isn’t much to worry

about if there’s technically nothing more you could have done.

One of the most important things is to develop a healthy and positive mindset. Various

research has shown that those carrying more positivity in their lives tend to process stress and

anxiety more readily than those who dwell on the negative aspect of things. Internalizing all of

that negativity eventually compounds itself into an unnecessary amount of stress and anxiety.

Having the right mindset when it comes to handling stress can make your experience more
bearable and digestible. Meditation, listening to music, and professional therapy are just some

examples of methods you can turn to improve your mindset. Quality of sleep is another

important aspect in maintaining the ability to learn efficiently and memory retention. Sleep

deprivation greatly reduces your attention span leading to difficulties in studying. It also slows

down our mental capacity which causes us to make bad decisions that could potentially raise

stress levels. Lack of sleep also negatively impacts our mood which hinders our learning

capabilities and memory formation or retention. There are essentially two modes of sleep, REM

and non-REM. REM sleep is the mode that encourages the formation of neural connections. It

helps with three functions related to learning and memory; acquisition where new information

enters the brain, recall being the ability to access it, and consolidation which stabilizes the

memory.

Using your time wisely and efficiently will go a long way in reducing stress and anxiety

before your dreaded test days. Seeking professional help is a viable option if you have extreme

anxiety and stress. Cramming for exams rarely do any good; instead you should go over your

notes and any other resources you have everyday or every other day depending on the length of

your study session. It has been repeatedly proven that the latter method actually is better for

memory acquisition, consolidation, and recall. Cramming long enough may result in sleep

deprivation which would negatively impact your future study session and even how well you can

concentrate during the exam. Utilize your past experiences to better prepare yourself for each

new semester whether they are successes or failures. Set realistic goals for yourself and list down

ways that can help you to achieve or work towards that goal. This helps act as a guide for you to

follow meaning the more you are able to map it out, the easier it should be to follow.
Park, C. (2017, August). Is Mental Illness the Exception or the Rule. Retrieved November 28,

2019.

Sleep, Learning, and Memory. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2019, from

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory.