Taking An Exam: Psychological Preparation

During these days, thousands of young people face an average of 3 daily exams for 3 days for which they have prepared about two years. Facing an exam of these characteristics generates in them infrequent levels of nervousness and stress, since for many of them the result will determine their future.

Facing an exam is, on many occasions, a stressful experience . All the effort made for days, weeks or months should be put into them, hoping not to suffer from anxiety attacks, memory blocks or other kinds of unforeseen events. In many cases, these tests can last several hours or even be divided into days. This evaluation situation has its correlate on a physical level: for example, hormonal balance can be compromised.

Taking an exam: the moment to demonstrate what you have learned

As early as the announcement of the exam date, students begin to experience certain levels of stress. This is when the body prepares for action : the sympathetic nervous system intervenes to react to challenge. However, as the challenge will last longer than the sympathetic system can handle, the parasympathetic system works to restore initial hormone levels.

A fight between the two begins here, which will continue until the end of the exam. By then, the body has experienced numerous ups and downs that negatively affect its health, such as prolonged high doses of adrenaline and cortisol. The reaction to stress is prepared to face short-term threats, but not to be sustained over time, which can affect, for example, the production of lymphocytes.

This immunosuppression can lead to a more frequent contraction of diseases and a worse antiviral or antibacterial response. It is common, in fact, that many students fall ill during or after the exam period.

Keys to face an exam

Preparing ourselves psychologically to face an exam is not an easy task, but it is a necessary one. As we have seen, our health is seriously affected on a physical level; however, the psychological component is essential. Students experience memory blocks that are due, in large part, to the feeling that we are not sufficiently prepared for the test. It also influences the way we study, or the time we dedicate to the process.

Studying is a multi-phase process

As a rule, the student does not begin to study when he sits down before the notes for the first time with the intention of studying. The first contact with the information already means an essential step to assimilate and encode it in our memory, thus increasing the chances of recovering it. Thus, in many cases this first contact occurs before the attitude of study and memorization ignites.

To face an exam, it is important to take advantage of that first contact to understand the information, making it easier to assimilate later. This will save us unnecessary stress: the feeling that we lack time will not be so distressing and we will also be able to plan the study more correctly.

Support is essential to face an exam

Whether it is to solve doubts with a teacher or to study in the company of other people who are going to face the same test, teamwork tends to make us more efficient people. Thus, to face an exam it was not going to be less.

The student does well when seeking support from other people or the exchange of ideas, since explaining the syllabus helps to fix it in the mind. On the other hand, if we hold pre-exam meetings, it would be good if they were not based on criticism, reinforcing negative thinking towards the subject. Including a meeting of this type, more than helping us, can harm us a lot when facing an exam.

Mock exam

The exams are structures that, to master, must be known. Knowing in advance the number of exercises or tasks or the duration of the exam will help to form a mental image of it. Recreating it would, then, be really positive, since on the day of the exam the student will feel that he has already faced a similar situation.

Relaxation is one more component

We’ve seen before that high levels of stress during exams can take their toll later. Because these levels increase on the day of the exam, it is useful to have some simple relaxation exercises prepared to help us face the exam, avoiding  the dreaded “going blank. ” These exercises will consist of increasing the area in which we fill our lungs, causing them to begin to expand in the lower part, thus avoiding the characteristic tachycardias of an exam.

Once these points are mastered, facing an exam will be a more bearable task. This does not mean that we should not accept stress as another element, since it helps us react quickly to unforeseen events, and that is useful on the day of the exam. We only have to take into account the levels of nervousness that we face, to assess whether they are sufficient or excessive.