To every student during exam season:

With finals not too far away, I’ve realized that society puts a lot of pressure on us students to do extremely well in school. And while this is great and I feel like everyone should strive to do well in school, sometimes the pressure just becomes too much.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I find that a lot of my friends are on the verge of mental breakdowns because the workload and the pressure from school are way too much for them. And this isn’t just seen in college students… I even saw this happen when I was in middle school.

Back in high school, I remember sitting in one of my classes. We were all getting our scores back from an exam we had taken. I looked down at my B+ and was so despondent because I thought I did much better. As I was in my own pool of self-loathing, I heard a girl go to our teacher, and crying heavily, said, “One more point! Please, just one more point!” I looked over at my friend, who sat next to me and saying, “Yikes, she probably needed one more point to pass.” Suddenly we heard our teacher say, “A 99 is fine. You did great, you don’t need the extra point.”

My jaw dropped. This girl was upset because she got a 99 on an exam and needed one more point? Granted, both of us were at fault in this situation. I shouldn’t have been so upset because a B+ isn’t bad at alll. And she shouldn’t have been crying because of a 99.

My advice to you all who are about to take exams:

Don't stress. Grades are seriously not everything.

I know people always tell us that we need to do well in school and that anything below an A is unacceptable. But trust me. Your whole life isn’t going to be in shambles because you got a C on one exam. I’m not saying you shouldn’t care about school at all. I’m just saying that people should stop going crazy over trivial things.

Everything in this world is temporary and the things you’re upset about today aren’t going to be the same thing you’re going to be upset about in ten years. Those smalls things don’t matter. Every test I’ve failed or every essay I wish I could have done better on didn’t keep me out of college, just like how a W on a transcript or a C on an exam isn’t going to keep you from having a good GPA or doing well in a class.

There are greater things that we students need to be focusing, on rather than stressing out about the next exam we’re going to take.

If you’re upset about a failed exam, stop pitying yourself. Pick yourself up from the ground, wipe your eyes, and start working harder to do better. Do well because you want to redeem yourself from your past, rather than feeling like you need to do well because that is what’s going to get you into medical school or graduate school or law school or wherever.

You’re fine. You’re going to graduate. You’re going to have a good job.

Stop stressing the little things.