Project 3 – Case Study Analysis: Anxiety before Tests 1

Project 3 - Case Study Analysis

Anxiety before Tests

Dylan Tran

Pasadena City College

Project 3 – Case Study Analysis: Anxiety before Tests 2

Katya is a freshman with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0. She studies really hard in

all of her classes to maintain a good grade due to the fact that she has scholarship. Most of the

scholarships require students to maintain a certain GPA or else they will not grant the

scholarship. In order to not lose the scholarship, Katya has to study really hard and make sure

she do well on her exams and overall grade in her classes. This lead to Katya experiencing

anxiety before tests because she constantly thinking about what grade she would get before

taking a test or whether or not she will do well on it. It is almost the end of the semester and

there’s a Chemistry test that she has to well on or else she will lose her scholarship. Taking test

at school is already hard enough, and now she has to think about getting good grade, which then

give her more pressure and lead to her panic attack in the afternoon while she was trying to

study.

I remember when I first started I used to have test anxiety, too. I used to think that I am

not smart enough and not good enough to be at school and that I will fail most of my exams and

classes. Since I started college at Pasadena City College (PCC), my ultimate goal is to maintain a

high GPA because then it will look good on my transcript when I transfer to a 4-year university.

Having anxiety before tests is pretty common because I also experience that, but not too extreme.

Nearly 3 years of studying at PCC, I learned little by little every day to overcome my anxiety. I

try my best to find resources and ways to not let anxiety gets the best of me. I think that what

gives me the most anxiety and stress me out the most was deciding what to study rather than test

itself. In my first year, I wanted to major in Psychology because it has always been such an

interesting subject to study about, however after taking the first introduction course, I found out

that it is not for me and decided to switch my major to Economic, and then

Economic/Mathematics, and then Applied Mathematics. The reason behind these changes is
Project 3 – Case Study Analysis: Anxiety before Tests 3

because I don’t understand much about the subject. But I had to take these classes to find out

what I am into. I finally narrowed it down to my current major, Linguistics, which I will be

attending next Fall at University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, to obtain my Bachelor’s

Degree in Linguistics. I had test anxiety to my previous majors because I didn’t understand the

full concept in each class and their theories. However, Linguistics, has given me a different

perspective because I don’t experience anxiety before test anymore. This probably has something

to do with the fact that I am interested in studying languages, therefore, I feel comfortable about

it. When I have anxiety before test, I would stop what I’m doing and go out to get some fresh air.

Activities such as go for a walk at a park, or just driving around the city to take my mind of

school a bit, actually allowing myself to relax my mind and not let my anxiety affect me. I also

try to reach out to my friends and telling them my problem because that also help since I’m

communicating with others and listen to their advices. Most importantly, to avoid test anxiety, I

prefer to study a little by little every day instead of doing last minute study and cramming all

information to your mind a day before or a few hours before the exam.

As a freshman at college, there are so many problems that lead to stress and anxiety. For

instance, learning to adapt to a new environment, transitioning from high school to college, work

hard in classes to maintain a high GPA, and the most common issue is anxiety before taking

tests. According to “The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology: Test Anxiety” there are several

physical symptoms of test anxiety which include rapid heartbeat, sweating, dry mouth, stomach

ache, and feeling like you have to use the restroom, etc. This is pretty common to students and

Katya as well because everyone will experience that nervous feeling before taking a test. Not

knowing what specific problem will be on the test and whether or not you will do well on it is

really scary. People with anxiety before tests are usually those who study really hard and having
Project 3 – Case Study Analysis: Anxiety before Tests 4

high expectation in getting high grades and high GPA. Overtime, this would lead students to

being afraid of testing. Being trapped in their own mind because they would think that they will

do poorly on tests and low scores.

There are several recommendations for Katya to try out and take her mind off of school

for a little to avoid extreme anxiety before tests. For instance, studying ahead of time before the

actual test day will reduce the amount of study. Working on practice test/exam also allow student

to get used to taking test. Taking break in between study to ensure that you have indoor and

outdoor activities, balanced out your school work and your own time to relax. According to the

Department of Psychology, Vidyawardhini Arts, Commerce and Arts College, “counseling

enable student to perceive reality accurately and to accept this reality in order that he/she is able

to maintain and enhance his/her personal and social functioning achieves his/her academic goals

and develops his/her personality” (Mahadeorao 750). Sometimes, students would rather keep

their personal issue include stress, and anxiety to themselves which become a bigger problem

overtime. By seeking for help, students will be able to share their thoughts and feelings about

how they’re doing at school and what’s their main concern. Counseling will be able to help and

give professional advices. Katya and other students who are dealing with anxiety should seek for

help as soon as possible to receive the best help at early stage to prevent from further extreme

anxiety, not only that it will help with mental health but also counseling can be given as an early

intervention. At school, staff and students could also create awareness on campus letting students

know that they can go to counselor for advices if they’re stressed, etc.

If I were Katya, I would try to do some research and talk to family and friends about my

situation before seeking for professional help. Keeping up good grade at school and great

performance is important, but to deal with stress and anxiety is not worth it. Taking test
Project 3 – Case Study Analysis: Anxiety before Tests 5

shouldn’t be something to be scare of but rather to build you confidence about your

understanding in classes. To decrease anxiety, Katya and other students who is dealing with the

same situation, can prepare studies ahead of exam day. It will also be helpful to form a study

group to discuss about the upcoming exam that way if you’re stuck you can ask question and

work it out together. Try to avoid caffeine too, because you want to stick with a healthy sleep

cycle because having enough sleep allow you to concentration more throughout the day.

Overall, Katya should probably learn to manage her times at school and outside of school

to balance it out. Changing her study habit is also important because it’s better to divide days in a

week to study for an exam instead of cramming all information at once in a day. If Katya follow

these strategies, she probably won’t feel as much anxiety anymore in the future and won’t

probably experience another panic attack. Since her exam is in two days, it would be best for her

to meet up with friends and study together that way she is not by herself and feel stress about it.

Anxiety before tests is very common for all students and it can be fixed easily if you learn to

balance times and form strategies to study. Hopefully Katya will be able to find the best methods

to avoid anxiety and able to keep her scholarship.

Project 3 – Case Study Analysis: Anxiety before Tests 6

References

Test Anxiety. (2016). In J. L. Longe (Ed.), The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology (3rd ed., Vol.

2, p. 1171). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. Retrieved from

http://link.galegroup.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/apps/doc/CX3631000766/HWRC?u=pasa19871&sid

=HWRC&xid=5cd8365c

Bhujade, V. M. (2017). Depression, anxiety and academic stress among college students: A brief

review. Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 8(7), 748-751. Retrieved from

https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1961766346?acco

untid=28371

Raza, A., Abbasi, N. U. H., Khurshid, M., & Ansari, M. I. (2018). THE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, STRESS AND SELF HARM AMONG COLLEGE

STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY. Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, (1),

137-142. Retrieved from

https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2021690382?acco

untid=28371