WRITING the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations is every child’s first major experience with a towering level of exam anxiety in Guyana. While I was faced with a similar feeling at the Second and Fourth Grade exams, nothing was comparable to that of the NGSA.
Entering high school was no different. As a matter of fact, my anxieties increased even more as I grew older. One may find it difficult to believe that exam anxiety is an actual thing. Yes, those pounding butterflies, sweaty palms, nervousness, being fearful of the content as well as the results you gain afterwards, can all be grouped together to form exam anxiety. Perhaps, you have just one or two of those symptoms or maybe you’re just like me, who experienced all of them before at once, during and after examinations. Whether you have low or high levels of anxiety, at the end of the day it’s still considered as anxiety. As such, we should be considering the effects it can have on the outcome of our performances.
Anxiety is not always a bad thing. It’s the same feeling you have when danger approaches. If by chance your house is on fire, your anxiety kicks in and through that feeling of worrying and fear, you will try your best to find a way out of the house, right? However, in instances where your examinations are concerned, high levels of anxiety can have a negative effect on your grades. High levels of anxiety may result in the student avoiding the examination at all cost, which includes not showing up to write it and acute levels of panicking and fear.
If you have low levels of exam anxiety it means you are just a tiny bit worried about the examinations. However, you still place emphasis on studying and writing the examinations to the best of your ability.
This topic is crucial, especially at a time like this where the results for the CSEC examinations are soon to be released. I, personally, would like to share my story with you as I was writing Mathematics for CSEC last year: I was not the best student in my Mathematics classes. Yes, that’s right, classes! I attended three different classes for Mathematics. My in-school class as well as two extra lessons. I generally have anxiety for exams but I also have anxiety when it comes to Mathematics. So it was anxiety 2x on the day I wrote it. I remembered sitting there for about 45 minutes before answering any of the questions. I kept breathing heavily and my pens slid right out of my fingers due to sweat. I was a complete mess.
However, with some breathing exercises and a forced will to change my thoughts, I eventually began to work the questions. Sadly enough, I did not finish the entire paper. However, I still muddled through and passed when I received my results. Even when I was about to receive the results online, I was on the website for an entire hour contemplating if I should log in or not. After that experience and realising that if only I had just believed and trusted in myself and in my ability, I would have done even better at the CSEC level. At the university level as surprising as it is, I have learned to control and manage my exam anxieties. As a matter of fact, it helps me to do better. I know my anxiety stems from an urge to excel. As such, if I would like to wear the crown after examinations I must commit myself to studying and making sacrifices. The amount of work we deposit into our studies results in the grades we received afterwards.
I’ve assembled a list of things you can do to help you hurdle your exam anxiety.
Yoga or meditation can help ease your mind off of the overthinking and stress. If yoga is too much or too time consuming, then spending some alone time with yourself to pep talk and evaluate your thinking is also recommended.
Breathing exercises and relaxation training is also on the list. Breathe in, breathe out, take deep breaths. You will feel calm and relaxed. Relaxation training is where a person visualises a scene completely relaxed, and a mental image evokes some of the feelings of the real scene. You can visualise yourself taking the exam while being relaxed. Happy thoughts equal happy outcomes.
Support from your peers and family is important. Find someone to talk to about how you are feeling. Maybe your parents experienced exam anxiety, or your friend who wrote CSEC last year did as well. Start a conversation and share your ways of overcoming exam anxiety.
Change your thoughts. Change them from ‘I don’t think I can do it’ to ‘I’ve studied to the best of my ability, I can do this.’
Lastly, is there something that cheers you up and it also helps to clear your mind? Such as eating ice cream, playing basketball, humming a song?
Then do it! If that’s your way of overcoming high levels of anxiety, why not engage in it? At the same time, you should also remain focused on studying for the exam.
The world that we live in makes everything seem complicated when in fact, life can be very simple as 1, 2, 3.
No amount of anxiety will change the future. Worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it does not get you anywhere. So next time you come face to face with exam anxiety, don’t you stress, you did your best!
