Today, thousands of young people face an average of 3 daily tests over 3 days that they have been preparing for years, dealing with such a test generates unusual levels of nervousness and stress, because for many of them the result will determine their future.
Tacking such a test is often a stressful experience. You should use all your effort for days, weeks or months, in the hope that you will not experience anxiety attacks, memory blockages or other unforeseen events during the day. In many cases, these tests can take several hours or even a few days. This valuation situation corresponds to the physical level: for example, hormonal balance can be compromised.
- Since the test date was announced.
- Students have begun to experience certain levels of stress.
- This is when the body prepares for action: the sympathetic nervous system steps in to respond to the challenge.
- However.
- Because the challenge will last longer than the sympathetic system can handle.
- The parasympathetic system works to restore initial hormone levels.
Here begins a struggle between the two that will continue until the end of the exam, at that time the body went through several ups and downs that harm health, such as high doses of adrenaline and cortisol for a long time. is prepared to face short-term threats, not to arrive on time, which can affect, for example, lymphocyte production.
This immunosuppression can mean a tendency to get diseases more often and a worse antiviral or antibacterial response. It is common for many students to become ill during or after the exam period.
Preparing psychologically for an exam is not an easy task, but it is necessary, as we have already seen our health is severely physically affected, however, the psychological component is critical. Students are subject to memory blockages that are largely due to the feeling of not being prepared enough for the exam. How we study or how much time we spend on the process are also factors that influence.
As a general rule, the student begins to study when he sits down to take notes for the first time, the first contact with the information is already an essential step to assimilate and encode this information in our memory, thus increasing the chances of remembering it. In cases, this first contact occurs before the study and memorization attitude is activated.
To face a test, it is important to take advantage of this first contact to understand the information, which facilitates its subsequent assimilation, which will save you unnecessary stress: the feeling of running out of time will not be so frightening and, in addition, we will be able to plan the study more accurately.
Whether it’s solving questions with a teacher or studying with others who are going to take the same exam, teamwork generally makes us more effective, so dealing with an exam wouldn’t be any different.
The student does well to seek the support of others or to exchange ideas, because explaining the topic allows to fix it in the mind. On the other hand, if we hold pre-test meetings, it would be good if they were not based on Criticism, which would reinforce negative thinking. Including such an encounter, without helping us, can do us a lot of damage in the face of a test.
The evidence corresponds to structures that, to master, must be known. Knowing in advance the number of exercises or tasks, or the duration of the test, helps to form a mental image. Therefore, doing a simulation would be very positive, because on the day of the exam the student will feel that he has already faced a similar situation.
We have already seen that high levels of stress during exams can wreak havoc later, as these levels increase on the day of the test, it is useful to have prepared simple relaxation exercises that will help us to face the test, avoiding the dreaded “white”. These exercises will aim to increase the area we use to fill the lungs with air, causing them to begin to expand from below, avoiding typical tachycardia from a test day.
Once these points have been mastered to face an exam will be a more bearable task, this does not mean that we should not accept stress as another element, as it helps us to react quickly to unforeseen events, which is also useful on the day of the test. . We should only consider the levels of nervousness we face when analyzing whether they are adequate or excessive.