Gauri Nagpal
When students step into the school corridors, and go through the assessment system year after year, they are always accompanied by an invisible cousin- the Board Exams. Whether they are in their classrooms, playfields, or the corridors, the Board Exams are always there. All activity in school is geared towards successfully clearing the Public Examination. Come March, the invisible cousin gathers a new momentum and continues to nag the students, parents and the school teachers. Those who have not done well till now, they pull up their socks for the last gasp. For others who have won accolades till now, the pressure mounts. Accolades make them want more accolades. On top of it there is an endless medley of comparisons, parental expectations and peer pressure.
Let’s see why all that ado- and how do we tide over it:
Marks Matter?
“We may crib and talk about irrelevance of marks,but in the current race for cut offs, marks have come to matter. And students feel it. That’s why an increasing number of students who have to appear for Board exams come to us for guidance, to share their worries and sometimes to just vent out their emotions. With college cut offs soaring high year after year, anxiety is natural. On top of it, there is mounting parental pressure, not to mention the peer pressure and a nagging desire to be at the top position, come what may.” said Sangeeta Bhatia, Student Counsellor at MGN Public School, Jalandhar.”I always advise all the students and parents not to overindulge in the number game. Scoring 100% marks may be very important to you but you cannot sacrifice your physical and mental health at the altar of marks. Identify your interest and then match it with your abilities. Then, focus on putting your best effort to reach your abilities”.
Causes of Stress:
Improper Preparation
Whether you like it or not, exam stress is more often than not caused by lack of preparation. When you feel you are underprepared, you start having cold feet and a feeling of anxiety kicks in. When you feel that a three hour exam would be a litmus test for all the information you have gathered in a span of one year, you tend to form an anxiety lump which mounts as exams approach.
Pressure within… and without:
Exams are like a goal post. They have always been there- staring at you, and every time you feel that you are almost there, the goal post seems to have shifted its position. This is because your own thoughts and beliefs cloud your vision. There is a belief that flows in your mind that in order to be a good student you need to perform well consistently in order to be judged as a good student. This is something that is imbibed in you since your early childhood. So, as you grow up and prepare for the exams, you are under a constant pressure that you need to maintain your grades. There is always a pressure from without. From parents and peers. It is an unfortunate tendency in parents to fulfill their dreams through you and also persistently compare your grades with those of your peers, thus exertin
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