BOOM…the sound of you failing. Test, Exam, Quiz, Midterm--whatever the professor is choosing to call their personal form of legalized torture at the collegiate level for that week, we all know what it feels like to completely bomb it. Realizing you actually got a terrible grade can sometimes be a huge hit to not only your GPA but, your self-esteem as well. Going through the denial, anger, bargaining, and depression might be what it takes to get you to accept your grade and take necessary steps towards improvement.
Stage One: Denial
“Wait what? Excuse me professor, I think you handed me the wrong test." You stare at the paper in your hand and realize that there has been some terrible mistake. Cramming all day and night prior to testing day had transformed you into a walking study guide. You strutted into that testing center or classroom and punched those 50 multiple choice questions right in the jugular. Way cool and super confident in your answers... or at least you thought so.
Stage Two: Anger
The second you look into those cold, dead eyes of your professor, you know in your heart that this was a personal attack. They are declaring war and you are a fearless soldier in the fight to avenge those missed points, fallen answers, and lifeless GPA. No way had you spent hours on hours pouring over the material (even that surprise chapter) and learning things you might not ever again need in your life for this kind of below average grade.
Stage Three: Bargaining
Look at it this way, the class average was like an 80% and you only scored below that.. No one's perfect, like get real. Percentage is just a number am I right?? That test was impossible anyways. You attempt to shake this harsh reality and focus on all the positives. Did you try your best? Did you feel like you understood all of the information? Did it all work out the way you had expected? No. But that's ok. You might have only gotten 50 right but you're still a 100.
Stage Four: Depression
“UGHHHH I HATE MY LIFE!!!" you're the little red headed boy who just ran into a glass door. Didn't even see it coming. Panic starts to ensue as you see your pathetic life flash before your eyes. You see yourself failing out of college, living your life as a spirited bum who has a good attitude, and your parents crying every night while holding your picture. You feel terribly guilty that you couldn't test as well as your peers and start to worry about how badly this will affect the rest of your life (or you don't care and spend the rest of your day watching Netflix). It's up to you how long your bad mood will last… but you cannot let the depression win. I repeat you cannot let the testing depression win.
Stage Five: Acceptance
Beep…..beep….beep. Your GPA has a faint pulse and needs you to revive it. Even though this test left your academic life weak, you will survive. Having the confidence to admit to yourself that you maybe messed up one test is a great motivator for working even harder when midterms come around. So don't get hung up on the negatives and don't be too hard on yourself, instead lift yourself up enough to be better than your test score.
