Test Anxiety

Test Anxiety

Many students experience test anxiety - feeling excessively overwhelmed by stress when preparing for or taking a test. Test anxiety can involve a variety of physical symptoms, and many times is accompanied by "drawing a blank" and not being able to remember any of the material you studied. Some stress can be helpful - the adrenal that results can keep us focused and attentive. We naturally feel a little nervous about performing well with things that are important to us. Test anxiety, however, is a different and difficult thing.

Here are a few suggestions around how to combat test anxiety:

• Recognize and respond to the negative "talk" in your head. Replace these ideas with affirmative statements. "I am well prepared. I do know this topic. I am smart." We can get stuck in a cycle of bad thoughts that only fuel the stress and anxiety of taking the test.

• Practice. As much as you can, use practice tests to get you familiar with what testing feels like with this content. Use your test taking strategies while taking the test, as well as when you are preparing. The more you feel prepared prior as well as during the test, better outcomes will happen.

• Exercise. Research shows 30 minutes of high impact exercise (or 60 minutes of low impact) greatly affects our ability to focus. Exercise also increases our ability to sleep at night, as our body is more physically tired. Both focus and rest are imperative when it comes to test success.

• Eat and sleep well. Make sure that you do not pull an allnighter the night before your test. Go to bed early and get plenty of sleep. Also try to fill your diet with proteins and vegetables and limit your caffeine and sugar intake.

• Visualize your success. See yourself filling in correct answers and confidently handing in a completed exam. You are what you see.

• Arrive early for your test. Allow yourself the time to settle in. Allow for a few minutes of just breathing, being present, and getting in the right mindset to take the test. Rushing and being late will only add to your stress.

• Stay calm and keep perspective. Put down your writing utensil and close your eyes for just a moment. Take a few deep breaths. Remind yourself that this is only one test. This grade does not define you. It does not speak to your character, personal qualities, or intelligence.

• Accepting mistakes. Another thing you can do is to learn to keep mistakes in perspective — especially if you're a perfectionist or you tend to be hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, and you may have even heard teachers or coaches refer to mistakes as "learning opportunities." Learning to tolerate small failures and mistakes like that one problem you got wrong in the math pop quiz.

• Afterwards. After your big test make sure you take care of yourself and treat yourself! You did it and now it's over, go get a brownie or a nice long shower. You deserve it!

• Getting help. Certainly if your anxiety is impacting you, you can always reach out to a wonderful listener here on cups. You may also want to seek help from your teachers or an academic support person if your school has one. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, but rather an indicator of strength. You want to succeed and support is here to help you do that.

Everything takes time and practice, and learning to beat test anxiety is no different. Although it won't go away overnight, facing and dealing with test anxiety will help you learn stress management, which can prove to be a valuable skill in many situations besides taking tests.

Discussion Questions:

Have you ever experienced test anxiety? What's your experience been like?

How have you dealt with it?

Tips for others struggling?