As finals week comes to a close, there’s a lot of anxiety surrounding grades. This semester has been a rollercoaster. Personally, I was sick for about a month and missed a lot of classes. It was hard to catch up and I did everything I could to keep on track; however, I was not completely successful. Truth time, I failed my first exam ever. I’m learning how to be okay with it, and this is how.
Don’t Panic
Panicking isn’t going to do anything. It’s not worth it to work yourself up over one exam. Failing an exam is completely normal and happens to most people at least once in their academic career. Remember, you still learned something from the class as a whole whether it be actual subject matter or something about yourself academically.
Give Yourself Time to Grieve
It’s okay to be upset and it’s okay to cry over it. It’s perfectly acceptable to feel bad about failing an exam, but don’t let it last too long. Treat yourself with a night out or a self-care night in. Give yourself time to grieve, but also do something to make you feel better.
Learn From Your Mistakes
Figure out why you failed the exam. Did you study enough? Did you get enough sleep the night before? Did you not understand the material? If you figure out where it went wrong, then you know how to prepare for the next exam or if you need to take the class again.
Do Not Let It Define you
This is not who you are, it’s just something that happened. If you feel bad about failing an exam, that means you care. Caring makes you a good student. This exam does not define the rest of your academics.
Make A Plan For The Future
You can’t control the past, but you can control the future. Figure out how this affects your future academics, if it does at all. If you need to retake the class, plan out how to study for it the next time around. Focus on turning this into a learning experience of how you need to learn!
Failing an exam is not the end of the world. It might feel like it afterwards, but you can always bounce back. Next semester is a fresh start. Take advantage of it and succeed in everyway possible.
HCXO, Jenna
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