It’s beginning to look a lot like exam season! With many COVID-19 protocols coming to an end, campuses have been busier and lots of students will be headed back onto campus to complete their final exams in person! It will really be crazy to look back on this time and reflect on why we haven’t had in person exams for about two years.
I know I personally haven’t had an in person exam since February 2020! This can cause some extra anxiety, on top of the general anxiety students already feel around exams. Well, in today’s article I am going to discuss some of the reasons students get anxiety and some ways to overcome it and practice self-care around this time.
Let’s take a look at exam stress to begin. Stress around exams is so common, almost everyone experiences it at some point. However, just know that it is normal. In some cases, stress is an indicator of what we care about. If you care about your grades, your academic progress, about doing well, then feeling stress around your exams is expected.
One of the key things that you can do is understand that you may not fully get rid of your stress and anxiety, but embrace that it means you care! However, the stress and anxieties that we feel can also be inhibiting, which can in turn have a negative impact on our studies! This means it’s good to know some way to ease them.
One main way is to practice self-care. This is such a broad term nowadays but really, self-care is different to every individual. It’s anything that brings you a sense of peace and calm. For me it’s crocheting, reading, writing, and spending some time outdoors. Whatever self-care means to you, as long as it’s intentional, it can help ease some of the stress and anxiety you are feeling.
Aside from the feelings of anxiety and how to overcome them, I have a few other tips to get you through this exam season as well. Starting with, create a schedule and be organized. Having a schedule set before you start is something that you will thank yourself for in the end. Things will start to get more hectic as the semester draws to a close and if you already have a schedule set, it will be less to have anxiety about.
My last tip for you today is don’t stay too isolated. Granted, we need to give as many hours as necessary to our studies. However, we are also human and we need outdoor and human interaction. Whether it be, taking a walk outside, grabbing brunch with some friends or dedicating one night to focus on anything but school, make sure you take some much deserved time for yourself!
It’s important to remember that stress and anxiety are more than normal during this time. Keep practising self-care and doing what you need to do to keep your own anxiety and stress at bay. You know yourself best. I hope you all have a successful exam season. Best of luck!