Staying Calm in Exam

Welcome!

We organized a LinkedIn live event on how to stay calm during the exam.

By  Pinky Goswami [Chief Psychologist, 1 Wellness Clinic]

Hosted by Manu Gupta [Founder of MonitorExam] on March 22.

Here’s our link to the LinkedIn live event video for your reference.

Do you know what a boggart is? All Potterheads will be quick to tell as we get to see how the characters in the Harry Potter series overcome their trepidation. Yes, Boggart means your biggest fear or keeping things to yourself. Exams are scary, the thought of exams nearing up creates a pit in your stomach. You start stressing about exams in a way that you stop going out, you can't sleep and you are anxious all day long. Now, take a deep breath and let's figure out together why we are so scared about exams and how to overcome the anxiety.

Staying Calm in Exam is all about how to understand our anxiety and overcome it. The event turned out to be insightful as the speaker Pinky Goswami explains anxiety and how to deal with anxiety. The speaker’s understanding of anxiety and the insights given speaks volumes about her 25+ years of experience as a psychologist. The event was successful as our host Manu Gupta and the speaker Pinky Goswami left us intrigued by their conversations. There were more than 25 attendees that took part in the live event. Let’s get into the topic without any further delay.

Why are we scared?

When we say that we are scared of exams, we are not scared of exams but we are scared of the results. We tend to stress a lot about what is going to happen rather than what is supposed to be done now. That is when we start to feel over-anxious about everything happening around us.

We don’t share our anxiety most of the time, making it hard to talk about as we don’t want to be a weak person or burden our well-wishers. We always worry about the future outcome like what will the teacher think by seeing the answers or what will the parents say about the results and that tends to cause anxiety.

The speaker of the event, Pinky Goswami says that “ It is okay to have anxiety as it is a good thing and completely natural. If we don’t have anxiety then we don’t tend to work hard and take things seriously. Instead of stressing about being anxious, take it positively and think of how to deal with the anxiety.”

How to overcome anxiety?

“Don't let the unknown exam fear conquer you, make the unknown known and you conquer it.”

We should be thinking of the bigger picture and understand that the exam fear is very small. As you know the characters in Harry Potter unleash their wands to overcome their fear and make it look ridiculous, the same way make your anxiety as your plus and think that exam fear is ridiculous too. While giving the exam, see the question paper as a source of learning or improving skills and not as to how to win it.

Balance is the main key, try to understand and learn to balance your anxiety. You will reach your goal ultimately so don’t overthink about it and just focus on the present. Pen down all your thoughts and answers to the topics you have prepared, that helps a lot in keeping your mind calm. Different age groups have different levels of anxiety depending on the importance of the exam. So, it is important to share your thoughts and not bogart them.

Pink Goswami, suggests that “The best way to tame anxiety is being mindful. Keep a track of your emotions, your physical and mental state of mind. Accept your emotions and thoughts, and embrace your feelings without any judgment. Be cautious about what you are doing in the present, don’t think of the outcome.”

Event attendee’s thoughts:

We asked a few questions about the event to one of our attendees. Shreya, who is an engineering student, shared her thoughts about the event. Let’s have a look,

• Your favorite moment about the event:

The whole event was very insightful but if I have to pick one moment then it would be when the speaker said that “It is okay to feel anxious and it is absolutely natural, as it is a part of human behavior. One can never stay calm but can try to be calm, act to be calm.”

• How did the event impact your perception:

I felt that people usually take anxiety in a negative way. But that's not justified as it is very natural, one can even perform better. It depends on person-to-person. As long as your performance is not getting blocked, there is no harm in feeling anxiety.

• Your learnings from the event & did you feel it was a useful event?

Yes, absolutely! I found it very useful. I will try to become more process-oriented rather than outcome-oriented, this will help me perform better in the future. I have also learned that being mindful is the best mantra to overcome anxiety. One should not think too much about the future, instead, we should live in the present.

Conclusion

Face and embrace everything as you rise, don’t fear and run away. Don’t stress about your performance in the exam, pen down all the answers instead of thinking about what others may think. You never know the answer that you're hesitating to write might turn out as the actual answer, remember that it's always better to fill up the space instead of leaving the space blank. Always think about the bigger picture and focus on the present. Take up more practice tests, the more practice you do the more peace and positivity you will gain. Being anxious is good but stressing about it takes a toll on your health.

Pinky Goswami concluded the event with a note that says, when your brain is in a storm you can’t be calm, you can only try being calm. Try to overcome the anxiety with a few trips and tricks. Remember that being anxious is always positive and it is a natural thing so don’t stress about being anxious, try sharing your thoughts. Always try to be a process-oriented person rather than being an outcome-oriented person. Make an effort to be calm so that way you can survive any situation.

Thank you for reading MonitorExam’s Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it.