We all get a little nervous before a big test or job interview. But some people really freak out and have all they can do but get their head in the game.
Meet U of M student Tyler Starnes. Completely overwhelmed by test anxiety before his chemistry midterm, Tyler took his test anxiety head on—by thinking about the fact that he had it for the five hours beforehand. Talk about resolve!
Instead of reading up on tested material or running through a practice exam, Tyler sat in the UGLi for five hours with his mind racing about anything besides chemistry, but always circling back to the fact that he was uncomfortable and very skeptical about his ability to do well.
Amazing.
While Tyler didn’t study his chem textbook at all during the five hours before his exam, that’s not to say he didn’t pretend to—his eyes went swept the page like he was reading, but all the while he distracted himself thinking about his anxiety and poor feelings about his classes and his life at large. Way to tackle your test anxiety, Ty!
Tyler still had some anxiety coming out of his test—he even texted some friends that he felt like he failed it! But wouldn’t you know it, a couple hours later, the pain inside just turned into numbness, and the test anxiety was far, far away, long since replaced by denial and sadness.
The grades haven’t been posted, but these results are in: Tyler is case-in-point that you can always work through your problems when you tackle them head-on.
