Test times stress UA students
Anxiety and tension haunt college students as midterms and finals appear
Kate King
Issue date: 11/10/08 Section: News
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It's not unusual to sit next to someone who is barely able to keep an eye open for class because they have stayed up studying the night before, and probably into the wee hours of the morning, for a major test.
For some students, it's not a problem. Others feel stressed out but how they handle these major tests vary.
Farah Lo Lagne, a third year law student, always feels prepared for testing.
"I study in advance, make sure that I get plenty of rest the night before and prepare as much as I possibly can," Lo Lagne said.
For other students, it is as simple as watching a movie and having a drink to get their mind off what is to come.
Some have learned that by studying too much for a test, overstressing and overanalyzing information, they tend to lose the information that they have studied so long and hard.
"I have figured out that if I am too stressed out in trying to remember as much as possible for a test, I usually don't do as well as I know I could," said Terri Brummett, a junior art major and non-traditional student.
It's hard to tell what subject brings the most anxiety. For some it is a particular subject that has always been difficult to grasp, such as math or cience.
But LoLagne said it doesn't get any easier the further along one goes in school.
"It absolutely does not get any better. I would now pay to take an undergrad exam because now, the stakes are much higher, and we are graded on a curve, so if the highest exam grade is a 96, that's what we're graded by." LoLagne said.
Hannah Smith, a freshman majoring in music and a member of the Razorback Marching Band, agrees with LoLagne.
"The anxiety seems to get much worse because it's like you have a lot more things going on, like the band and other things, and less time to really focus on being able to study for a really big test that you have within the next week, or even worse, the next day."
Depending on the person, test anxiety can hit at any moment, and can either be severe or just something that is easily brushed off by partaking in another activity.
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