by Karen Bledsoe

Created on: September 17, 2010

What's the worst, most anxiety-provoking event in college life that you can think of? Giving a speech? Running out of money? Being homesick?

Taking a test?

Everyone is nervous about tests. For most people, their mild anxiety is motivation to study well. But if the prospect of taking a test fills you with dread, if you can hardly study because of the butterflies in your stomach, if you can't even comprehend the test when it's in front of you, you've got test anxiety for certain.

The real danger of test anxiety is that it becomes a self-perpetuating downward spiral. Each time you sit down to an exam and are so anxious that you do poorly, you only reinforce your anxiety. You look forward to the next exam with growing dread, sure that you'll do even worse. Your anxious thoughts become a self-fulfilling prophesy as your agitation continues to interfere with your studies and your test-taking abilities.

Like all anxieties, test anxiety can be overcome. But like all anxieties, the cure won't happen overnight. With time, treatment, and determination, you can knock your test anxiety down to a manageable, motivational size.

CULTIVATE GOOD STUDY SKILLS

The key to good test taking for all students is good study habits. Learn and use active study skills that allow you to interact with the material in many ways and using multiple senses. You learn passively when you listen in class, read the book, or read the notes. That's not bad, it's just not all that you can do. You learn actively when you take notes and write down questions in lecture and while reading; when you make outlines or mind maps of the text and the notes; when you draw pictures of concepts; when you organize information into tables. 

Anxiety may cause avoidance, where you keep putting studying off because you fear failure. Overcome the avoidance by setting a schedule. Set a short, manageable, but fixed and regular time to study each subject each and every day (except for one day off - your brain and body need a rest). Give yourself a specific task for your study time, such as taking notes on the first two sections of the current chapter or answering the chapter study questions, and write it into your schedule. 

Study with others if possible. Social learning helps reinforce learned material. Socializing will also help reduce feelings of isolation and helplessness.

TAKE TIME FOR SLEEP

Sleep deprivation is a college student's worst enemy. Many students believe that college life requires them to stay

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