Exam Tension | How To Overcome It
Do you think you’ve had exam tension before and are looking for solutions to stop it from reoccurring? This is a helpful content for you.
A short story: John Izuchuchwu was known to be a brilliant student in all his academic endeavours. When he was admitted into the university in his first year, he was meant to write a mathematics course (MTH 111) on one faithful Monday morning. Normally, this was an examination he’d been preparing for weeks.
Contrary to what close colleagues were expecting, John excitedly went into the examination hall but came out crying at the end of the examination. “What has happened to him?” was everyone’s question.
He began to narrate how he lost everything he had read in the exam hall, sweating all over, from palm to feet and later came out to remember all the formulas he was supposed to use for the questions. This is frustrating! Right?
The questions from this scenario are: what happened to the young man? Is there any possible way he (John) could have avoided this? What is the best way to control it when it has started to occur? If you want the best answers to these questions, ensure you read the article to the end.
All that John went through in the above scene is Exam Tension. It can happen to anybody if necessary measures are not taken and could lead to total frustration if it is not well managed. In this article, I will explain in detail what Exam Tension/Examination Stress is all about, what causes it, and how to overcome it.
If you have had a similar experience to the one I shared in this article, or you are the kind of student who is always afraid of facing any examination or competition, you do not have to take any information in this article for granted. You will find a stable solution to whatever has been causing you exam tension.
What is Exam Tension?
Exam Tension is a state of feeling absolutely devastated in an examination situation. It is the feeling of being worn out and not knowing what to do in the examination hall. When this happens, it always looks as if you did not prepare for the examination before taking it. Most times, some insensitive examination supervisors assume that the candidate who is in this condition is not a serious student.
But is this actually true? No, exam tension can occur at any time when least expected, and anybody can be a victim if it is not carefully tackled on time. There are many factors that could result in examination tension, and these factors mostly strike candidates out of control.
Exam tension could cause an individual to lose focus, concentration, and coordination. This is regardless of how long or well you have prepared for the examination. This is why managing it with a mature mind and psychologically is necessary.
Before we get to the solution to the examination tension, it is logical to first look at its root causes.
Causes of Exam Tension
As I have said earlier, many factors can lead to someone having examination tension, depending on the individual’s personality. This implies that it is not the same way it hits one person but will be the same for another. However, the principal thing is that we analyze how it started and then use the best possible measure to handle it. Some of the causes of exam tension are shown below:
Emotional Factors:
Before entering any kind of examination, it is essential to ensure you are emotionally balanced; otherwise, you might find it very difficult to cope with the exam conditions. Emotion plays a significant role in candidates’ coordination during the examination period. Some of the emotional causes of exam tension are:
- Loss of a loved one (death)
- Heartbreak
- Anger
- Memories of bad experiences
Psychological Factor:
Some other factors that could lead to exam tension could be traceable to be psychological, such as:
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Temperaments
- Inferiority complex
Health Factors:
Another factor that should not be undermined is the health condition of the examination candidate. Students will not perform well in the exam hall if they are not physically fit.
Attitudinal Factors
There are some attitudes that students are expected to get rid of, as they contribute highly to most of the stresses they encounter during examinations. Examples of such bad attitudes are
- Poor preparation
- Insufficient sleep in the night
- Lateness to the examination
- Drug abuse
- Breaking of rules and regulations
- And lots more
All these that you have seen here are the major factors, among many other factors, that could cause an individual to have examination tension.
How to Overcome Exam Tension
Given that you have seen the factors responsible for exam tension, it is time to look at those to apply to remediate it. Before I list them, I want to make you understand that exam tension is not an incurable disease. Once you can apply the necessary measures, you will be able to get over it. Therefore, the significant tips to overcome exam tension at every point in time are listed below:
- Study very hard for your examination
- Take enough sleep before going to the exam
- Take your medications before going for the examination if you are sick.
- Do not indulge in drug abuse in any form
- Ensure that you are emotionally balanced before entering the examination hall.
- Avoid lateness
- Deal with fear: Here, you can use past questions and solve exercises repeatedly before the exam.
- Learn how to manage your time in an examination condition.
- Avoid every form of anxiety
- Build strong confidence in yourself as you go out for any examination.
- Consciously let go of every experience of past failure or any alarming occurrence (if any)
- Ensure you abide by the rules and regulations guiding the examination
- Finally, pray to your God before you start writing the exams.
With these 13 tips well applied, you will be able to overcome any kind of tension in an examination.
I hope you have found all the solutions you have been looking for in this article. Make sure you subscribe to this website for more helpful educational guides.
