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Jerricko
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13 Jan 2013, 10:17 am

Hi, I'm currently a college student studying Software Dev. How the course works is you study essentially at your own pace(It's almost like homeschooling) and the college gives you a schedule of your recommended course completion dates. The reason for this is they try to simulate the workplace where you work on deadlines. To write an exam, we have to pass a pre-test with a mark higher than 79% and if you fail, you have to rewrite it.

I get extremely anxious and stressed when the time comes for me to write the PT and I keep feeling that I'm not ready, even though, when I page through the work, I know all of it.

I guess additional pressure comes from my brother bringing me to his bosses' attention as they need more programmers and I just want to make a good impression by completing the course quickly.

My family is careful against putting pressure on me. The college fees are hard on my mother financially but I made a deal with her that I will pay her back for every month I go over. She occasionally asks I could try to finish on time, I reply that I'm trying best and she appreciates that I do, but I feel that she thinks my best is not good enough.

Any advice for me to cope with the anxiety?



deltafunction
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13 Jan 2013, 11:19 am

It seems to me as if your anxiety is caused by a few different things: test-taking anxiety, and general anxiety for finishing the course.
Being anxious when writing a test can actually affect your performance, but the good news is that you can help it out a little. Some tips are to reassure yourself by how much you've studied for the test. Also, I usually spend at least 20 minutes before the test to just relax to reduce anxiety. Learn some relaxation techniques that work for you, like deep breathing, and practice them if you get anxious during the test.

As for general anxiety, it's hard for me to say what to do to cure it because I can get really anxious as well. The best advice that I can give you is to control it so that you don't get anxious when you're taking a test. Have you tried telling your mother and brother that you feel as if you are being pressured to finish the course when what you need is for them to be supportive as much as possible right now?



Jerricko
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13 Jan 2013, 11:52 am

Yes, and they do try to be supportive. My brother tries his best to be reassuring. My mother is usually the person I vent my anxiety and fears to.

My usual study routine is to study hard till the day before the PT; but the fact is the PT means nothing, except when you get under 60%, then you have to spend a whole day at campus which takes me out of my routine. Over the year, all my anxiety seemed to be for nothing because I always do well in the exam. If I was on schedule, I should be finished by end of February but ATM, I'll be finished by the end of March.