We may have been told that staying calm in the face of adversity is very important, especially so that we can analyse the situation objectively with a clear mind. For students, this is very important, especially for the periods just before and during examination. Without calmness, one, in my opinion, will never perform up to the standard which he is capable of.
Personally, I had my share of anxiety during the crucial periods of a student's life, just before and during examination. The only outcome: mind block. Yes, mind block. I wonder how many students have experienced it, but having experienced it personally, I have only one comment on it. The feeling is unbearable and is a vicious cycle. The more anxious you are, the bigger the "block", the bigger the block, the more anxious you are.
During my Junior College year 1, I was in the examination hall for Physics paper. I read the first question and started doing. Less than 3 minutes later, I crushed my answer sheet as I did not know how to continue. I went on to read the second question and third and soon, I finished reading the whole paper, without knowing how to do a single question. Naturally I got anxious and this was not helped by the fact that I was seated at the back of the hall, overlooking not less than 300-400 students. Everyone was busy writing and no one seemed to face the same problem as me - not knowing how to do any question. This made me more anxious and I actually perspired in the otherwise cool environment (I was seated below the fan). I nearly fainted (not exaggerating here).
I closed the question paper, sat back and drank about half of my 500ml bottle of water. I just spent the next 15 minutes or so closing my eyes, relaxing and not thinking of anything. I then went to the restroom and wash my face (I have forgotten why I had to wait for so long, probably because there was a rule saying that no one can leave the hall within 30 minutes from the start of the paper). After the toilet break, I went back to the hall and start the paper all over again. This time, I felt more calm and managed to finished the whole paper before time was up.
A scary experience of mine brought me two main learning points.
1) Examination is not all about what you have in your brain, it's also about how you handle the situation, the stress.
2) If you cannot stay calm, nothing else matters.
Hence, I urge all students to stay calm, just like how how I have been telling my students.
Before I end this post, here is a nice article on calmness.
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/calmness-is-contagious-even-if-youre-faking-it/
Personally, I had my share of anxiety during the crucial periods of a student's life, just before and during examination. The only outcome: mind block. Yes, mind block. I wonder how many students have experienced it, but having experienced it personally, I have only one comment on it. The feeling is unbearable and is a vicious cycle. The more anxious you are, the bigger the "block", the bigger the block, the more anxious you are.
During my Junior College year 1, I was in the examination hall for Physics paper. I read the first question and started doing. Less than 3 minutes later, I crushed my answer sheet as I did not know how to continue. I went on to read the second question and third and soon, I finished reading the whole paper, without knowing how to do a single question. Naturally I got anxious and this was not helped by the fact that I was seated at the back of the hall, overlooking not less than 300-400 students. Everyone was busy writing and no one seemed to face the same problem as me - not knowing how to do any question. This made me more anxious and I actually perspired in the otherwise cool environment (I was seated below the fan). I nearly fainted (not exaggerating here).
I closed the question paper, sat back and drank about half of my 500ml bottle of water. I just spent the next 15 minutes or so closing my eyes, relaxing and not thinking of anything. I then went to the restroom and wash my face (I have forgotten why I had to wait for so long, probably because there was a rule saying that no one can leave the hall within 30 minutes from the start of the paper). After the toilet break, I went back to the hall and start the paper all over again. This time, I felt more calm and managed to finished the whole paper before time was up.
A scary experience of mine brought me two main learning points.
1) Examination is not all about what you have in your brain, it's also about how you handle the situation, the stress.
2) If you cannot stay calm, nothing else matters.
Hence, I urge all students to stay calm, just like how how I have been telling my students.
Before I end this post, here is a nice article on calmness.
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/calmness-is-contagious-even-if-youre-faking-it/
Indeed, staying calm is vital not only in examination but also in every situation in life. Besides the examination halls, there are many other trials that life will send us and how well we can cope in these trials is how well we can maintain calmness and composure.
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