Melinda is a freshman with a 3.0 grade point average. She studies diligently, bu
ID: 3456614 • Letter: M
Question
Melinda is a freshman with a 3.0 grade point average. She studies diligently, but experiences severe anxiety before tests because she doesn't believe that her efforts will make a difference. It is almost the end of the semester and Melinda must do well on her chemistry exam or she'll lose her scholarship. This pressure has made her test anxiety so bad that she had a panic attack this afternoon while trying to study. The chemistry exam is two days away and she needs help.
1. What are the best approaches Melinda can take now to do well on her exam and prevent a similar stressful situation from happening next term. Please feel free to include external stressors as well as personal stressors in your life.
2. Do you think you would seek professional help if you were in Melinda's situation? Why or why not?
3. From a health perspective, what are some actions you can take to decrease anxiety and learn optimism?
4. Lastly, what are good ways to form realistic expectations before beginning each semester?
Explanation / Answer
Answer-1- Exam stress is an unavoidable part of a student's life. Melinda also felt stress before exams and became panic. There might be many reasons behind it like low motivational level, lack of preparation and planning, competition from peers, stress of getting scholarship etc. Now Melinda has only two days in her Chemistry exam. First of all, she needs to calm down and avoid as much stress as she can. She has to believe in herself and to worry excessively. Here, help of family members and parents would be highly appreciated. She can contact to a school counsellor and take various steps to reduce anxiety.
At the same time, Melinda needs to take things positively and should give lot of time to revise her syllabus. Some mental and physical exercise would also boost her energy, clear her mind, reduce the feelings of anxiety and help her to sleep better.
Answer-2- If I were in Melinda's situation, I would seek professional help because there were only two days in exam and I would have been very much stressed. The help of student counsellor would be very beneficial to reduce anxiety before exam. So, if I were Melinda's situation, I would definitely take professional help to calm down and to concentrate on my exam properly.
Answer-3- We can decrease anxiety and learn optimism with the help of healthy life style. We need to take enough sleep and to be positive all the time. Exercise, yoga and meditation are also very important in reducing stress and anxiety. Eating healthy food, stop worrying, hanging out with friends and family are some methods to stay positive and eliminate stress and frustration forever.
Answer-4- Some of the good ways to form realistic expectations before beginnning each semester are the following-
1- We need to set goals to achieve success. If we set goals, we get motivated and measure our success with the help of these goals.
2- Students should always manage a balanced study schedule from the starting of the session. Except this, proper rest is also necessary in one's life to stay away from anxiety.
3- Students should adopt healthy study techniques including balance, time management and avoiding all night study routine.
4- Its very beneficial to take part in extracurricular activities alongwith academic activities for overall learning. These activities contribute to learning process and balance scheduling skills.