Overcoming Test Anxiety
Test anxiety takes many different forms. Part of combating test anxiety is understanding its sources and identifying its symptoms. Whatever the source, be assured that test anxiety is common.
Test anxiety has many sources. It can be the result of the pressure that students put on themselves to succeed. Without any pressure, students would not be motivated to study, and some stress connected with taking exams is natural and can enhance performance. When students put too much pressure on themselves or set unrealistic goals, however, the result is stress that is no longer motivating, only debilitating.
The expectations of parents, a spouse, friends, and other people who are close to you can also induce test anxiety. Sometimes, for example, students who are the first in their families to attend college bear the weight of generations before them who have not had this opportunity. The pressure can be overwhelming!
YOUR TURN
Write and Reflect
Do you recall ever feeling anxious about a test or exam? Write a journal entry describing one of these experiences and how you reacted. In your journal write down some strategies you have used to stay calm.
Finally, some test anxiety is caused by lack of preparation, such as by not keeping up with assigned reading, homework, and other academic commitments leading up to the test. Procrastination can begin a downward spiral because if you do poorly on the first test in a course, you have even more pressure to do well on subsequent tests to pull up your course grade. This situation becomes even more dire if the units of the course build on one another, as in math and foreign languages, or if the final exam is cumulative. You have to master new material that follows the test while trying to catch up on the old material.
Some test anxiety comes from a negative prior experience. Transcending the memory of negative past experiences can be a challenge, but remember that the past is not the present. Perhaps you performed poorly in the past for good reasons. You might not have prepared for the test, you might not have read the questions carefully, or you might not have studied with other students or sought prior assistance from your professor or a tutor. If you carefully follow the strategies in this chapter, you are very likely to do well on all your tests. Remember that a little anxiety is OK. But if you find that anxiety is getting in the way of your performance on tests and exams, though, be sure to seek help from your campus counseling center.
