Lowering Stress During Midterms
By: Mary Okorie, Reporter
Exam periods can be extremely stressful, and students tend to face anxiety during this time of the term. This is due to many factors, such as not preparing well before exams, or not sleeping and eating healthy. To reduce stress during exam periods students should make sure to prepare well and study, eat healthy, and have adequate sleep. They can talk to someone if it’s needed.
Good preparation
Preparing before an exam would really help to reduce the stress during midterms. Students would likely feel more confident about the exam and that can help them relax a bit. Due to heavy course load or various other reasons, students might find it hard to study before the day of the exam. This is where time management comes in. students should set apart time to study and reading goals to reach for a particular day. Reading should never be left to the day before the exam. When students study each day and prepare well in advance, they can know their weak points and find ways to clarify what they do not understand. So, when the exam is close, students do not need to start rushing and putting stress on themselves since they will have prepared enough ahead of time.
Healthy Food and Adequate Sleep
Good food and sufficient sleep also helps reduce stress during exams. The brain needs enough rest and energy to function so students need to eat and sleep well. This goes in hand with preparing because if students prepare well, they will not have to give up their sleep to study the night before an exam or disrupt their eating patterns. Stress levels can go up when there is not sufficient sleep or consumption of unhealthy foods, which can make students fall sick. If students still can not deal with the stress, another effective method is to talk to someone who can give them better advice on how to manage their stress levels during exam periods.
Stress can really lead to a lot of other things and it is much better to try and keep it low when possible.