Finals time is stressful for anyone. Everyone feels like they could have studied a few more minutes or attended an extra study group. Everyone gets butterflies in their stomach on the day of the exam and everyones mind goes blank as the test is being handed out. It’s a struggle that even the most confident person deals with.

For those though who suffer from test anxiety, these feelings are amplified more than anyone can imagine. A lot of people will say that they suffer from test anxiety, but what few know is that it is a diagnosable mental illness. Diagnosed test anxiety is typically coupled with general anxiety disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder.

Test anxiety on any level though is something that no one deserves to deal with. And, despite what many people believe, there are many ways to help relieve test anxiety so that it does not impede with performance.

One way to try to combat the anxiety, is to talk to your professor or teacher before hand and let them know how you are feeling. This just gives them a heads up to know that you are anxious, or tend to get anxious during exams. Some professors may also take you talking to them more seriously and offer tips. An example of this is an interaction I had with my Chemistry professor at the beginning of this semester. I approached her before the first exam just to let her know that I tend to have very bad test anxiety. She thanked me for telling her and I thought that would be the end of the conversation. Instead though, during the next class, she talked to the entire class about ways to work through test anxiety and she also posted some articles to the online platform that my school uses. Again, I thought that this would be the end of the conversation, but after the first exam, that same professor emailed me individually and asked how the test seemed to go for me and asked me if there was anything else she could do differently to help me with my anxiety. While not every teacher may react like my Chemistry professor did, it doesn't hurt to put the idea in their head that test anxiety is something you deal with.

Something that I have started doing in college to reduce my test anxiety is writing down how I feel directly before the exam. The idea behind this is that if you can release all your anxiety on paper prior to the exam beginning, then during the exam, those anxious thoughts will not be in the forefront of your head. Doing this has helped me clear my head before the exams begin and I have found that I am able to focus more on the material.

The last thing I have discovered to help reduce my test anxiety is to bring some things to keep my hands and mouth busy. Because I am a very tactile oriented person who is unable to sit for long periods of time (like during exams), I have found that bringing a small fidget toy and some mints has helped keep my mind focused instead of wondering off.

Good luck on exams, and may the odds be ever in your favor!!