By Shajeetha Parveen
Exams are something we need to face in our university life. Working hard towards exams could increase one’s pressure especially when you’re aiming for a first class degree. Unfortunately we don’t have a magic wand that could just take exams away from your life. We might not have that much options over whether or not we actually do exams, but there are definitely things we can do to help deal with the stress we’re feeling.
According to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), in February, figures published by the Office for National Statistics revealed an increase in youth suicides. And also the chart shows India is one of the countries that has the highest number of suicide rate due to examination stress among people aged between 15 and 29 years. In a study published in the Asia-Pacific Psychiatry journal in June this year, the findings show that the suicide rate among youths was 1.03 per 100,000 populations in 2009, accounting for the male gender (66.0%), with Indians being the highest suicide cases (40.4% and 5.6 per 100,000 population).
You can begin to experience stress when you are really under pressure be it mentally or emotionally. It is something natural and unstoppable to feel under pressure during exam period. Some may succeed being under pressure, which could motivate them and help them to perform at their best. But for the rest it would be a completely different situation as they would find difficulties in coping up with the pressure they face. And that pressure would turn out to be a stress. Students need to remember a few things in order to succeed from this stress.
You might hear this phrase quite often when you come across many people – “exams aren’t everything” – which is very true. Exam isn’t the end of the world, so whatever happens in exams, you can still be successful in life. Not to forget, employers don’t just look at your grades when they hire you although grade is one of the criteria, but that doesn’t mean the grade is all about it. Winston Churchill has also said that “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”.
Accept the fact that you can’t change everything. Your exams are coming, it will happen and then it will be over. Instead of leaking energy on worrying about it, why not create solutions and focus on what you can control? Don’t try to be perfect. It’s great to pass through and reach for the stars, but keep things in balance. If you find you don’t understand some of your subjects, getting stressed out won’t help, instead, look out for people who can help you out with it.
Last but not least, don’t keep things bottled up. Confiding in someone you trust and who will be supportive is a great way to alleviate stress and worry.
Focusing on working through solutions will help you stay optimistic, focused on your revision, and most importantly, well. ***