It was April of 2017, the morning before sophomore Maria Garcia was supposed to take her Geometry EOC. She woke up in a panic, breathing heavily and sweating after having sudden doubts about her preparedness for the test. Negative thoughts plagued her mind while she struggled to even simply eat breakfast. She had gone through a rather extreme case of what is known as test anxiety.

Test anxiety is a psychological condition which involves severe distress in testing situations. It prevents students from performing to the best of their abilities during an exam. It is a phenomena which the majority of students will experience at some point in time.

There are several strategies to combating test anxiety. Using time productively and thoroughly studying are two methods which sophomore David Friend uses to help prepare her mentally for a test.

“When I study, I feel prepared. I dedicate parts of my day to studying so I can have a better chance at doing well on whatever test I’m taking in the future. It really instills a peace of mind.”

Different relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation can also be done to relieve test anxiety. Thinking positively can also lead to positive outcomes on an exam according to sophomore Joss Mordecai.

“Positive thinking is key. From my experience it has made a huge difference on the outcome of exams I’ve taken in the past.”

It is important to remember that intelligence is not defined by the outcome of one test, and that there are often other opportunities for success in the future.