I really do not like taking tests. I am sure that statement is of no surprise to anyone and that most of you agree with my sentiment. It's not that I don't do well on most tests, or that I am unprepared before I take them. I think the big issue that I have with tests is that they stress me out. Actually, let me rephrase that. When there are tests in the future I stress myself out.
Before high school, I didn't really have to study for a lot of different things because at that point in time it was fairly straightforward. However once I got here I had to learn the ropes on how to study for things very quickly. Sometimes I'm not entirely sure if I still understand how to do it, but it works, at least a little. That being said my main issue for tests is that I psych myself out. Before I take a test my brain automatically goes through all the different scenarios that could happen and tells me that I am going to get the worst possible scenario. From there I start to panic a little and I start to beat up on myself before the test even begins. Sometimes my stress before a test starts affecting my body physically. I have given myself numerous stress headaches. Before a big test, I get knots in my stomach, and sometimes I sweat. Before I took the SAT for the first time I got so scared I threw up.
This clearly isn't or wasn't the best way to take tests so I tried a whole bunch of things that could help. Sometimes I would listen to music before a test to calm me down. My uncle who teaches art history and is a real health nut suggested meditation. And both of those things worked fine, but I think that the thing that affected me the most was simply having a positive attitude. My brain does typically pick the worst possible outcome but as long as I keep telling myself it's not real it can't hold any power over me. These techniques don't always work. Right now I have a not in my stomach because of the AP Calc test I have to take in a few hours. However, I think that they all help, at least a little.
If you get stressed or start panicking before you even begin a test what do you do to calm yourself down?
Tests really stress me out too. Looking over the material and trying to have a positive attitude helps me to calm down. -Alyssa Ernst
ReplyDeleteI understand how you're feeling. I used to have performance anxiety in both school and in sports. In order to calm down I would tell myself that if I do poorly, it's not the end of the world. So many other things matter more in life. If I have bad race or get a low score on a test, I remind myself that I still have my health and my family and I use my performance as motivation to do better next time.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand what you are feeling. I have test anxiety, so I tend to stress myself out so much that I forget the material when the test is put in front of me. I have learned that if I know the material, then there is no point in studying hours upon hours of stuff I already know. It isn't worth it to stress yourself out like that. I have also stopped studying the day of the test because I end up more confused since my brain isn't in the right mind-set to retain that information.
ReplyDeleteSomething that helps me is trying to study as early as possible in the day. I find that when its late at night and im studying I constantly worry about running out of time which takes my focus off of studying.
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