By Chloe Warmuskreken
staff writer
E-X-A-M-S. Some of you just went into cardiac arrest, and that’s okay, we can work with that. As a student, exams can be the source of an unmanageable amount of stress, and as our semester exams approach some of us may feel the stress wedging its way into our lives. Through years of taking exams, I have come up with 6 tips to help ease stress and ace exams.1: Start now!
Nothing is worse than getting to the day of your exam and stressing out. You can ask your teachers for your exam packets early, or it can be as simple as just looking over some things from the beginning of the semester each night. Whatever you do, start as soon as you can!
2: Put your phone down
No need to let everyone know through your Snapchat that you're studying; everyone can see that you studied by the score on your exam. Your phone can be a HUGE distraction. We are all guilty of saying, “Okay, last video then I’ll study,” while using the word “last” very loosely. If you really want to do well, you have to put the time in. So give all your attention to your classes and put that phone down!
3: Don’t stress out
Just relax! One exam is not going to make or break your entire future, so stop acting like your life depends on it. The work we have all put in throughout the semester will pay off. Remember it is only 20% of your grade, and everything will work out. Stressing about the exam before you take it will only make you tense. Even worse is stressing about the exam afterward, which is pointless. You cannot retake an exam, so why worry about it? When it’s done, it’s done; so just move on and focus on the next exam.
4: Have fun
Don’t forget that you are a high school student who is being given 3 half days! Get your studying done, but have some fun too! We are too young to be so tense and stressed, so hang out with some friends, take a study break, or binge watch on Netflix. Don’t feel like the entire half day has to be spent studying, it will help your mental health if you just relax and have fun. With that being said, get your work done, do your reviews, and know your stuff. It is all about finding the healthy balance.
5: Find confidence
Sometimes you can study harder than you ever have before, but you still don’t feel ready or confident for the exam. I recommend using something to fall back on. For me, I like to use a ‘lucky’ pencil on all my exams. I only use it for exams and I’ve used it each year. I understand that the pencil really has nothing to do with the score I’ll receive, however, it makes me more confident. Some people will say “dress well, test well,” and this is the same idea. Find something that will give you comfort so when you get to a problem you don’t know you can think, “well I'm wearing those shoes so that will help,” or “well the lucky pencil never fails.” If anything, this is a way to just relax and remind yourself that it doesn’t have to be all serious.
6: Expect the point of no return
This is the most important: you need to realize when it is too late to learn something. There comes a point where if you do not understand something you need to accept it. If you don’t know it an hour before the exam, you are not going to know it, and that is totally fine. The key is that you need to understand this, accept it, and start reviewing something that is actually beneficial to you. Some classes are just too hard to have a 100% understanding of everything! Instead of stressing about that one thing you still don’t get after trying all week to learn, review the multiple things that you do understand. It is okay to not know everything.
I wish you all the best of luck with your exams. Study hard, but one test is not going to shape the rest of your life, remember that.
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