Study Hard..But Don’t Stress Out December 8, 2008

Midterms are hard but it is better not to stress out about them.  I have never had a midterm in my life.  Coming to college I knew that they would eventually come into my life but never have I been so worried about one test.  I feel that I have been doing all of the work that I was assigned but for some reason I was frantic when I realized that I had a midterm in less than two weeks.  I began worrying about how hard it would be and I automatically felt that I would fail.  There was no hope in my mind that I would do well, I was so set on failing it was ridiculous.  The week before the exam my professor explained the format of the test.  There were 10 short answers and 2 essays.  I thought to myself that even if I studied hard that I would still fail.  That was mistake number one.  I should have a positive attitude instead of a negative one.  I read all the readings and went over all of my notes and the night before the test I was totally stressed out.  I knew all of the information but I was still afraid that I did not know the right things.  That night I went to sleep early and did not forget to pray for some miracle helping me to pass.  The day of the exam I literally stressed myself out.  As I walked into the class my mind was full of different negative thoughts.  When my professor placed the test on my desk my mind went crazy.  I was able to answer 8 out of the 10 questions and when I came to the essays my mind went completely blank.  I could not remember any of the information that I had spent so long studying.  I managed to write one essay but I felt like everything I wrote was trash.  I had no idea what the second essay topic meant but I still managed to give it a try.  As I walked out of the classroom I was on the verge of crying.  I felt that I could have done so well because I knew the answers but because I was so stressed out I could not get them out onto my test paper.  I called my best friend Caitlin and told her the story and she managed to calm me down.  Then I called my mom and told her the story and we actually had a good talk.  Both Caitlin and my mom made me realize that I shouldn’t stress myself out.  If I was not so negative from the beginning then maybe I wouldn’t have been so stressed to begin with.  What I should have done was calmed down and realized that if I tried my best then there was nothing else I could have done.   Now that I think about it I don’t think I did that bad on the midterm but in fact it was the stress that I put on myself that made me think I did horrible.  I take this experience as a lesson.  From now I know that I need to go into everything with a positive attitude and that I need to try my best and realize that that is all I can.  The stress I put on myself did not benefit me during my midterm.  I learned that if I study and do all of the things that I am assigned then there should be no reason for me to stress out.  All I need to do is be calm and collected while I take my tests and I should be ok.

Advertisement