Q: Why do I experience test anxiety?

A: Besides myself, Doug Marks would be a great resource to contact in this area (dmarks@occ.edu). I'll give you the skinny on what I know. Test anxiety stems from deep feelings of insecurity and feel of failure, often to an inappropriate connection between some life-damaging event and the educational process. I.e. someone calls you stupid on the playground and everyone laughs, you connect that feeling to the potential failure of the test. It is characterized by sweaty palms, the feeling of being watching and the brain hitting a roadblock. After one leaves the testing site, their memory returns and the do actually know the material. Here are some possible solutions:

1. Deep breathing, while meditating on a very positive experience in one's life.

2. Study with a tutor who can give reassurance that you know the material.

3. Leave the testing site temporarily (with permission of the teacher) to get a drink or go to the bathroom.

4. Ask for an alternative testing site so you are not with other students (if the environment is intimidating).

5. Ask for extra time if needed (if the time constraint is what is intimidating). I've often had students as for 4 or 5 and found that after a couple of tests they no longer needed these accommodation in order to function adequately.

6. Some people are simply not good at tests and they need to know that is ok. Further, they need to be reassured that this, in no way, affects their worth or their actual ability to grasp and/or implement the material.

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