So you forgot you had a midterm. You may land anywhere on the spectrum of calmly accepting your fate to having a panic attack in the bathroom. Either way, right now, that one dog meme of the house burning around him and him pretending to be ok is a little more relatable than you’d like to admit. That being said, it’s not too late to do something about it. Whether you have five minutes before your test or five hours, here are some things you can do to boost your chances of success and maintain a level head.
Deep breaths
Breathe. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Inhale for 10 seconds and exhale for the same amount of time. Do this until your thoughts stop racing and your chest feels a little less tight. Your panic, while completely valid, is not going to help the problem. Let yourself feel the anxiety, and then use it to fuel the high intensity cramming session you are about to launch into or to sharpen your mind before you step into that lecture hall. What is done is done and now all you can do is your best. Try to stay calm, and trust yourself to be able to handle what comes next.
Get Some Food
Listen, I know eating might be very low on your list of priorities right now, but if you don’t keep your body fueled you will inevitably do worse on that exam. Adrenaline can only take you so far in an exam setting and that study session is not going to be very productive if all you can focus on is your stomach growling. Grab a meal, take a nap and study your heart out feeling refreshed and energized. If you don’t have time for that whole routine, ask your roommate for a protein bar and a banana and start munching. I personally indulge in hotpot and a good night’s sleep before starting to study the next day.
Make a Plan
This might seem counterintuitive if you have five seconds before the test opens up on Canvas but I still think it’s a little useful. If you make a mental note of what you know, you can skip ahead to those questions and spend more time on the ones you don’t know. Psychological research also shows that if you sit in the same seat that you attended a lecture in, you will remember more when you take the test. If you have more than three seconds to prepare, consider making a study map of all the topics you need to know for the exam and tackle everything from easiest to hardest. Cold recall through flashcards and generating practice tests are a great way to round out that last minute study session to see how much you know. I have a feeling that it is more than you think.
Give yourself some grace
It’s really easy to beat yourself up over mishaps like this. Life can get hard quickly and it’s easy for things — big or small — to slip through the cracks. You committed to going to university to set yourself up for success and because you care about your future. Your forgetting to look through the syllabus does not throw all of that away, so go easy on yourself. You got this.
