Being the perfectionist that I am, test anxiety gets to me pretty bad now that I’m in college. With finals, papers, and presentations, and a lack of sleep, it isn’t easy to pass every test. Now, I understand that some of you are wonderful little geniuses who do wonderfully on everything and more power to you, honestly, but it is very stressful to only kind-of pass a test, or even worse, outright fail one.
But here’s the thing: it’s not the end of the world.
No matter how you walk out of that room feeling, and no matter what that grade is on that paper, it’s going to be okay. You won’t have to drop out. Your mom won’t hate you. You won’t have to go back to working in (fast) food service for the rest of your life. You’ll be fine.
Now, I’m not telling you it won’t suck. It might suck a lot. Your heart may feel like it’s suddenly in your stomach and in your throat at the same time. (Don’t ask me how that works, but if you’ve felt it, you know.) You might want to cry. You might cry a lot! You just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and maybe tune up your study skills. Don’t beat yourself up. Know that you tried your best and that it isn’t that your best wasn’t good enough, it’s that sometimes our best isn’t what we thought it was.
Speaking of dusting yourself off, make sure that after your post-test slump, you take care of yourself. Don’t allow yourself to fall into a deeper slump because of a test. That test isn’t worth it. If you happen to not do too hot in the class as a result, you can take it again. That sucks, I know, but it’s an option. A valid option. It isn’t the end of the world, just the end of a semester, don’t beat yourself over a test.
It’s going to be okay. I promise.
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