Venturing through the thick of the midterm season can quickly become nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing and spark a sense of dread inside the average student at Ohio University. Suddenly, projects, papers, exams and presentations across a multitude of classes crowd Canvas to-do lists, planners and calendars. Therefore, work seems to be like an anchor, sinking you into a sea of self-doubt, anxiety and depression.
While this inner anxiety feels foreboding as it gnaws at your sense of inner peace, remembering and practicing stress and anxiety mitigation tactics, as well as better study skills, could take the extra weight off your shoulders.
According to the Mayo Clinic, experiencing nervousness before tests is common and “can help sharpen your mind and focus your attention.” However, for some test-takers, nervousness undermines the severity of feelings during testing season. Test anxiety is a more accurate term for many and does not come with the perks of helping them academically. Many people feel it worsens their ability to perform.
For some time, the accepted theory was that anxiety impeded your brain’s working memory capacity; therefore, during testing, recalling information became difficult and resulted in worse grades. However, it is more complicated than that. In the simplest sense, poor test performance is tied more to study preparation as opposed to test anxiety.
Last-minute preparation can happen for a multitude of reasons. People who developed a bad relationship with testing might wait until the last minute to begin preparing because putting off a task associated with stress feels good at the moment. However, this negates itself as stress becomes worse after procrastinating and failing to adequately prepare for something. Therefore, bad study habits arise.
Reevaluating your study habits could help. Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning cited a plethora of bad study techniques, many of which we fall victim to around this time of year. Cramming, all-nighters, mindlessly reviewing notes, memorizing and studying alone were among them.
For example, all-nighters lead to sleep deprivation, which makes it hard to concentrate and recall information. During a test, this causes a sweeping feeling of anxiety when you realize you cannot concentrate or recall information.
The second best study tip, according to Harvard, is to prepare ahead of time. Mentally mapping out your plan for a test before it happens and committing yourself to it gives you more room to breathe and employ better study habits. Habits such as active recall, studying with a partner, splitting up concepts and rewarding yourself fare much better than bad habits that accrue through procrastination.
Setting good intentions well ahead of exams offers students time to study, take breaks and regulate emotions. We must task ourselves with looking at exams in a different way. Exams or projects are not impossible mountains we cannot climb. Instead, they represent a brief, albeit stressful, time of our academic careers that is definite, doable and done by the end of this week.
Practicing certain emotional regulation methods allows us to take a step back, contextualize what we are studying and start on the work again. It is OK to take breaks when needed. It is OK to reach out to others for study help or talk to a mental health professional.
Aside from falling into the pit of bad study habits, people also fall into bad mental health practices as well. Midterm exam season usually takes people out of their element — less social interaction, isolating, cutting back on physical wellness, studying in dimly lit libraries or messy bedrooms and staring blankly at brightly lit screens for hours at a time.
These may seem like practices that come with the territory of midterm season, but they worsen your mental health and compound the pressure of tests, projects and papers. Messiness in your personal space leads to lack of focus, increased confusion and irritability. Natural light is linked to better moods, less depression and better sleep. Both physical and mental health are intertwined, meaning a dip in one causes a dip in the other.
Therefore, finding the place where study habits and mental health meet can go a long way. Engaging in positive study habits in broad sunlight, studying with a friend or preparing for your big project or assignment before bedtime are perfect opportunities to rise above a wave of work and meet the moment for midterm season.
The Post’s Editorial Board wishes all students a good midterm season, filled with lots of intention and a little bit of luck.
The Post editorials are independent of the publication’s news coverage. Have thoughts? The Post can be reached via editor@thepostathens.com.
