Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Victoria
Grace Apiafi
HED 044
13 February 2017
Freshman college student, Katya, suffers from severe test anxiety even though she studies
hard and has a 3.0 GPA. She believes her studying is not good enough. Katya has been under a
lot of pressure because if she receives a failing grade on her Chemistry exam that is in two days,
she will lose her scholarship. Katya became so overwhelmed that she got a panic attack.
I have had a long history with testing and general anxiety myself. I had early onset test
and general anxiety. When I was younger, it was harder for me to cope- mostly because I did not
know how. Once my parents noticed I had anxiety, they took action and developed plans to help
with my anxiety. Since I was younger, making sure I developed relationships with adults or
teachers that helped me stay calm and whelmed. To prevent anxiety, I learned to prepare the best
I could for tests and my parents made sure they put positive comments in my head such as,
Grades do not define you. As I grew into middle school, I still had bad testing anxiety and my
social anxiety increased. During this time, I was placed into Special Education and received
resources and accommodations. To help with my testing; I was able to test out of the classroom,
modified tests and any needed help with tests themselves. I started to have more panic attacks
during this time and many of my panic attacks did not fit situations appropriately. I stayed in
Special Education for two more years in high school before moving to California. During this
time, my anxiety was at a very high point and received more accommodations such as if I was
getting anxious, I was able to leave the classroom. I also had a lot more planned counseling
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sessions and given a safe space (my counselors office) whenever I did have an anxiety attack
or felt like I was going to get one. High school was when I started to have more panic attacks so I
learned how to cope with my anxiety a lot better. For me, sensory coping skills were important. I
used certain water bottles, such as a Camelback to bite on, muscle squeezes, eating crunchy
foods or chewing gum. Growing up with anxiety wasnt great, but I was fortunate to be able to
learn how to cope and what works for me so when it came to college my anxiety wasnt terrible
and when I did it, I knew how to cope and calm myself down.
diagnosis. Testing anxiety could improve if a learning disability is identified. Disabilities such as
ADHD and Dyslexia both make it difficult to focus and learn (Hall-Flavin, 2014). It is also
important to maintain a positive attitude and thoughts. Testing anxiety does not only come from
bad study skills, but negative thoughts. Negative thoughts and anxiety could come from over
exaggeration of the importance of tests from peers and parents. When students have strong,
negative thoughts about their studies or themselves, their anxiety will grow and will have higher
irrational thoughts and lower self-esteem and social skills (Boyacioglu & Kucak, 2011).
Maintaining the thoughts about how a test grade does not define you could help keep anxiety
down and keep negative thoughts away. Relaxation techniques are also important when it comes
to coping with testing anxiety. Practicing breathing exercises and relaxing muscles could be a big
help to get rid of stress and anxiety. Lastly, visit your school's counseling center. Counselor's
know the amount of stress and anxiety students go through and can help you and give you all the
As a conclusion, testing anxiety is a serious disorder that many students from elementary
to college stuffer from. Fortunately, there are many ways to cope and manage ones anxiety. I
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believe with the proper help and tools, Kayta will able to cope and lower her anxiety which will
Works Cited
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/generalized-anxiety-disorder/
expert-answers/test-anxiety/faq-20058195
Boyacioglu, N., & Kucuk, L. (2011). Irrational Beliefs and Test Anxiety in Turkish School
Test Anxiety. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2017, from ADAA website:
https://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/test-anxiety