Ah, December. It’s the perfect month; chilly evenings, warm sunshine, cosy comforters, final exams, debilitating stress —- oh.
It creeps up to everyone – whether they’re worried about underperforming, ‘CGPA ka girna’, or an F on their transcript – and that’s no surprise.
I recall 3 Idiots, the classic Amir Khan drama that brilliantly exposes the harsh truths about brown households and their knee-buckling pressure on children to excel academically.
“Ye college hai, pressure cooker nahi!” he asserted.
But, there IS tons of pressure.
1. The pressure of 9 assignments crammed within one deadline.
2. The pressure of writing 12 -page project reports with 20 citations.
3. The pressure of finding the right 6-week internship to add to your CV.
4. The pressure of jamming 4 months worth of information into your brain for the second exam in the day.
I remember pulling an all-nighter for a 9 am exam a few years ago. The exam stress enveloped me so bad that I began hyperventilating.
A few minutes later, I burst into tears.
A few more minutes later, I was peering over the chapters again.
I had just had a panic attack and was back on the grind not 5 minutes later.
Over time though, I have learned how to handle the migraine-inducing stress that comes with exam season better.
Fair warning: The tips and tricks I mention below don’t come with a forever-functional guarantee. Everyone experiences stress differently because of varying workloads, family issues, and personal afflictions.
However, they’ll help you fight that pesky flunk-fear a little better!
Take a Break
I know covering hundreds of PowerPoint slides, handouts, and sample questions can put you on a tight leash, but the human mind can only do so much.
Give the machine some rest, lest it overheats. Even a 5-minute break is very effective for a quick recharge. Scroll through Facebook. Watch a FRIENDS episode. Maybe, take a nap.
Try not to obsess over the syllabus in this break. After all, like lunchtime at school, it will eventually be over, and you’ll have to go back to class. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts!
Make Yourself A Drink
Exam stress creates two kinds of people: Those who binge-eat their anxiety away, or those who, like me, worry so much that they stop eating altogether.
That’s why its best to find the middle ground. Make yourself a steaming cup of frothy coffee, or brew yourself some green tea, or just cook up some karak chai to keep your spirits up.
But remember to stay away from calorie-dense drinks! Even though they’re delicious, they will make you feel heavy and fatigued, until you wouldn’t be able to keep your eyes open (Sorry DD!).
Call a Friend
Let’s be real: Nothing is more effective in stopping a panic attack than knowing someone else is almost about to have it too.
So, whine, complain, despair.
Not only is it immensely cathartic to air your frustrations about the paper, but it also takes away that feeling of impending doom when your friend asserts that ‘abhi aadha syllabus baaki hai’ (half the syllabus is still left).
If you’re afraid they might be leaps ahead of you in preparation: don’t be. Even if they were, they wouldn’t tell you (at least a good friend won’t).
Remind Yourself That You can Do It
Whenever you start feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the work before you, remember how many times you’ve already done this before.
CIEs, Board exams, or just the last semester (!!!) were challenging times, and yet you managed to ace them.
And if you failed once before, you probably won’t again, since you definitely know more now than you did then.
Once you have recalled your past wins, chant the mantra “I can do it” repeatedly. It may sound silly – but it works.
Remember, our minds feed off of our energy. As long as you stay positive, you’ll be able to get things done.
At the end of the day, however, the best advice I can give you to alleviate last-minute exam stress is what you’ve heard since the day you started studying by yourself:
Revise Ahead of Time
Sounds like something your mom might say, and well, moms are right, aren’t they?
Practising a question or two, reading a chapter, or even flipping through over the notes you made over the weekend goes a long way in curbing last-minute test stress.
But the simple, hard truth is that for most university students today, revision is nothing short of a joke.
The added pressures of online learning in COVID times, combined with the burdens of projects, assignments, and part-time jobs chuck the notion of revising down the window.
So, for now, just buckle up, and keep at it.
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