Re: Getting More And More Scared

[Guest guest]

I don't know if this will help you, but something that helped get me through college, GRE's, 2 masters degrees, and my coursework for my PhD was to constantly remind myself everything that I have put into my brain is IN THERE. I worked hard, I rehearsed the knowledge - it's THERE. I only need to relax and " get out of the way " and it WILL flow back out when cued by the test questions.

of course there will always be something you don't know - but instructors test you on the material they've given you, and you've studied that material - and even if there are some little details that you didn't pick up that are on the test, those will be minor compared to the bulk of the material.

I never sit outside the exam room doing " last minute cramming " - I try to get there a few minutes early so that I can take some deep breaths, relax, and repeat my mantra. I don't try to quiz myself to " prove " that I know it, because I'll just get tense and mentally freeze up. Then, while I'm taking the test, if there are questions that stump me, I'll either go with my first impulse (if multiple choice) without thinking about it too much, or if it's essay-type I will just start writing, even if the answer is not in my head if my hand is moving across the paper eventually the knowledge starts to flow out. this even worked for statistical theory courses and immunology (my least favorite, because the molecule names don't have memnonics to give you clues to function!).

So my advice is to follow your instincts and take some time off to relax these last few days... find a good book or watch a movie to totally get your mind off the subject ... feeling 'fresh' about the subject will do you a world of good!!

hugs

Mikki

[Guest guest]

Martha Behnke wrote:

> I don't know if this will help you, but something that helped get me through

> college, GRE's, 2 masters degrees, and my coursework for my PhD was to

> constantly remind myself everything that I have put into my brain is IN

> THERE. I worked hard, I rehearsed the knowledge - it's THERE. I only need

> to relax and " get out of the way " and it WILL flow back out when cued by the

> test questions.

I hope this will work for me, too. I just feel scared that I can't

remember all the stuff I crammed into my brain during the last weeks. I

started confusing things lately and that makes me very insecure.

I don't know if I have the crucial stuff in my brain and if I am aware

of the many pitfalls...

*sigh*

Oh well, I think I should remember that the instructors don't wish us

harm and that hardly anyone fails this part of the exam.

Regards

s.

[Guest guest]

There ya go I know it's hard to give up wanting to be in concious control of our knowledge- think of it as " intuitive learning " instead of " intuitive eating " LOL

>. I just feel scared that I can't remember all the stuff I crammed into my >brain during the last weeks. I started confusing things lately and that >makes me very insecure.

..

[Guest guest]

Styxia - this too will pass and I have confidence that you will pass too.

Could it be that fear builds upon itself like Hyperventilation? You

get TOO much of something (oxygen/racing heart) and your body only

focuses on that? Have you tried using some calming breathing

techniques? You say that you will spend the next few days in a over

sensitive state - why not give super relaxation (NOT alcohol and food

induced ;-) a try too? I bet you would find that you actually get

'bored' with being relaxed and then even studying could sound

interesting?!?

BEST wishes to you - Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> On Wednesday/Thursday I have the second part of my final exam and I'm

> getting more and more and MORE scared about it. I planned on studying

> until the last day but I noticed yesterday that I feel rather burnt out

> and today I can feel my geart rate raising when only looking at my

> books. So instead of the last three days studying I guess I'm going to

> spend them scared without really doing anything productive (like

> yesterday).

>

> My food and alcohol intake has increased and I feel horribly scared. My

> exam partner is scared, too. We're trying to convinces ourseves that

> we're worrying too much and that they won't let us fail, but it doesn't

> work.

>

> There will always be stuff we won't know.

>

> I'm scared of doing the simplest things wrong, of not being able to

> answer the most easiest questions, that I won't know enough to pass.

>

> My husband says that I will make it and (more important if you ask me)

> my exam partner also thinks I will (while I am scared to death). I think

> I will pass because no one is interested in letting us fail (or so we

> think and the students last semester didn't seem to be the best they

> ever had), but of course all of this doesn't help much.

>

> Sometimes I think a " more positive attitude " could do some good, but

> then I think " don't be too confident about it " .

>

> I'm even more scared about this part of the exam than I was about the

> first part. I thought this wouldn't be THAT scary, but it is (though I

> still think that the first part is the harder one). I just pushed it

> away until the first part of the exam was over so it wouldn't be too

> overwhelming.

>

> ok, the whining is over for now. Maybe I will get calm enough to look at

> some x-rays later.

>

> Regards

> s.

>