Lecture topics are coming to an end. The semester is about to close with examinations. Students are beginning to feel the intense heat of exams, and like iron in a furnace, they are all melting away in fear and discouragement. While a few intellectuals, strong-willed students, as well as bookworms, may rally enough courage to face the heat, many will simply give up and move on.

Failure isn’t just the outcome of exams, but the kind of personality one puts up in the face of difficulty. Therefore, a lot of people fail even before getting to the exam hall. Those who have little strength often give up when complex questions pop up on their exam papers.

Many don’t understand that what causes this anxiety is not that the course is difficult, but fear. Fear leads to stress, and stress to failure. When fear takes a larger portion of you, you tend to lose your self-esteem in the face of danger. You end up putting up a face of defeat even before the real danger comes.

As exams are approaching, students should consider the following in order to overcome fear.

Start reading: Procrastination is as bad as a virus. Get rid of it while it is still small. Start reading now. Students who often postpone their studies until probably a week or a day before exams end up getting drowned in fear. In order to overcome fear, read. Knowledge is power.

Seek tutoring: You will probably have a few intellectuals who are not afraid of exams in your class. If you’re one of them, seek constructive criticism from others in order to better widen your horizon. If you’re not one of them, mingle with them. Don’t mingle for the sake of asking them questions in the exam hall; mingle to know and to be self-dependent.

Mock-test your knowledge: Conduct a mock exam to test yourself and see how much you know and how much you can remember. Have someone do the assessment for you.

Pray: if you are religious say few words of prayer. Whether you have a deity you believe in or you believe in yourself, just say few words. This will help with your confidence.

Be calm and collected: During exams, it is important to stay calm, as that state is suitable for navigating through your stored information.

Read and understand the question: What causes fear most times is not understanding the question. The question can say “categorise,” and it may sound like “explain broadly” to someone else. Understanding the question is scoring half the mark already.

Ensure you finish ten minutes before the end: What causes fear after exams is the thought of not finishing a question before time runs out. Divide your time according to the questions and marks, then dedicate a higher timeframe to the one with the highest marks. It boosts confidence after the exam.

Lastly, edit your work. Run a proper check of your essay before submitting. This is one more reason why you need to finish at least ten minutes before the end.