Anxiety is an issue I feel a lot of us are familiar with. It can be difficult to manage the stresses of maintaining a social life, getting adequate sleep and being well rested, and doing the best academically that you possibly can. Especially for a lot of us, being at a university like Cornell means that we feel pressure to meet some level of academic expectation, and we hold ourselves to a certain standard. Because of these things, exam season can be increasingly more and more stressful, more so than the rest of the semester for sure.

I was glad to have the opportunity to attend the Test Anxiety Seminar last week. While this semester I was fortunate enough to end up with an exam schedule that was very light, I knew that the skills I’d learn in this seminar would be helpful not only in my last two semesters at Cornell, but the rest of my life beyond. And to that point, I think my biggest takeaway from this event was the mindset that you need to have when in this sort of stressful environment. The idea that you shouldn’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to a friend is a very powerful one. Furthermore, the idea that you shouldn’t lie to yourself, only sit down and think about if something is really worth the level of stress and pressure you’re putting onto it, was also very eye-opening. There was a lot to unpack in this seminar, and I’m incredibly glad that I had the opportunity to attend this event. I think I’ll be processing everything we talked about for a good while still.

I sincerely hope for more events like this one next semester!